Living in the Mist
by dkprz
Summary: Iruka had always thought that he was alone but was he really? A mission to the Mist might prove him wrong.
1. Chapter 1

Living in the Mist (Chapter 1)

Disclaimers: Not mine

"_Today has been hell. Well, at least the morning with those devil's incarnations is hell,"_ thought Iruka. When he said hell, he really meant it in every single possible way. Konohamaru and his gang decided that target practice was no fun without a real, breathing, moving and shouting target. This was not too bad of an idea in Iruka's opinion, closer to real life situations and stuffs like that. But when he was the said real, breathing, moving and shouting target, things got very ugly.

And now, with his hair sticking out in every direction in a not quite fashionable way, his slightly bleeding right arm staining his dark uniform's sleeve, his temper-telling vein located at his temple bulging and pulsing with an abnormal speed, he concluded that he was definitely in a foul mood. He just wanted to treat his abused stomach and right arm right now. And perhaps get a good long soak in the onsen later. After all, he deserved to pamper himself after being tortured and abused by those little hellions, right?

"Good Afternoon, Our Youthful and Beloved Sensei! What a Beautiful Head You Have There, Sensei! I'm Inspired but Shamed of Myself as My Manly Bowl-cut is Nothing Compared to Your Youthful and Modern Bird-nest cut!" boomed Gai while two streams of tears seemed to flow unstoppably down his cheeks, creating water puddles around himself.

"It's okay, Gai-sensei. The bowl-cut makes your hair looks smoother you know, and shinier, the bling-bling kind of feel," Iruka said, half-heartedly consoling the spandex-clad jounin who was outright bawling in the middle of the street. _"How can this guy ever made jounin?"_ Iruka mused. _"Oh right, because he is bizarre, peculiar, eccentric and freaking crazy."_

"Oh, Youthful Sensei! You Are So Modest! I Am Inspired Once Again! I Shall Praise Your Bird-nest Cut As Well or I Will Do Extra Two Thousand Times of Push-ups Today Using My Left Hand Pinky Only!" Gai boomed, again. This time accompanied with a thumb-up, sparkling wide grin and a sunset which came out of nowhere.

"Volume… and sparkles… Gai-sensei," already feeling the symptoms of an on-coming migraine, Iruka brought both of his palms up to cover his face, effectively blocking his eyesight from the rather horrific view of the green beast.

"Oh Right! Have No Worries Beloved Sensei! I Never Knew That You Have Bad Hearing! I Will Now Speak Very Loudly In Your Presence to Make Sure My Youthful Speech Can Reach The Deepest Depth of Your Kind and Fragile Heart!"

"No, Gai-sensei. What I mean is tune down your volume and my hearing is perfectly fine. Thank you," deadpanned Iruka, feeling his own charade of polite academy teacher slowly slipping.

"I'm Relieved to Know That Our Inspiring Bird-nest Cut Sensei's Hearing is Fine! I am So Happy for You Beloved Sensei!" Gai immediately brought Iruka into a bone-crushing hug and started to make water soaked areas at Iruka's uniform.

"_Strangling a jounin will get you killed Iruka. No strangling a jounin. Strangling is bad. No strangling greenish jounin. Strangling is wrong. No strangling insane jounin. Strangling is illegal… Or should I shave his eyebrows and hair? That's legal right? Right?"_

Just when Iruka thought that he was going to strangle then shave the so called beautiful green beast no matter the consequences, Gai boomed right beside his left ear and Iruka cursed creatively under his breath while his eardrum vibrated so violently that even he could felt it.

"I Must Inform Our Beloved Sensei That Our Respectful Hokage-sama Asked for Your Presence in His Office Right Away!" Gai boomed, well he always does. "And with This, I Shall Go for My Daily Youthful Practice! See you Around, Beloved Sensei!" with the last of his youthful speech made, Gai ran off in his inhumane speed, leaving a befuddled Iruka behind with dust flying everywhere around him and his ears painfully protesting for the abusive treatment just now.

"Why me? Why now? Why so green? I want my onsen and food," whimpered Iruka to no one in particular while forcing his half dead legs to drag his half dead self to the Hokage's office in slow and defeated strides.

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"Why, Iruka-kun! Nice hair you have there," Sandaime, the Hokage said, trying hard to suppress his chuckles but did not seem to be successful.

"Thank you," Iruka replied while glaring daggers at the Hokage.

"Kids giving you trouble again?"

"Kids, jounin, kunai, shuriken, green, sparkles and volume," Iruka shuddered at the remembrance of his not so pleasant morning, willing his brain to erase the memory.

"Oh, now I see why," unable to contain his laughter, Sandaime laughed out loud, pretending not to notice the glares that were sent to his general direction.

Decided to ignore the laughing, pipe-smoking, wise if not a little perverted Hokage, Iruka asked, "Why did you summon me here, Hokage-sama?"

"About that… Why don't you take a seat Iruka-kun? This may take a while."

Hearing the subtle change of tone in the Hokage's voice, Iruka tensed ever slightly and then went on to grab a chair to sit on, waiting attentively for what the Hokage was going to say next.

"Iruka, I want you to go on a mission."

"Mission? But I haven't taken a lot since I started to teach in the academy. I might have gotten a little rusty you know," said Iruka, chuckling slightly to cover his nervousness but gave it all out by rubbing the scar across his nose. Well, every person who is familiar with Iruka's body language will know that when he rubs the scar on his nose is either when he is shy or nervous. In this case, Iruka was definitely not shy towards the old and ahem… not so attractive Hokage.

"Yes, I know that but we need your service for this mission. Here, take a look at the mission scroll," said the Hokage while passing a seal locked scroll to Iruka.

One look at the seal was enough to make Iruka panicked ever so slightly. "But Hokage-sama, this kind of seal is specifically for mission scrolls rank above A-rank!"not bothering to mask his utter surprise at the sudden high rank mission, Iruka exclaimed.

"Yes Iruka. I'm the Hokage. Of course I know which kind of seal is for which rank of mission."

"But Hokage-sama… This is…"

"Just unlock the scroll and read it, Iruka."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," trying to get his slightly shaking hands under control, Iruka unlocked the seal hesitantly and started to read the contents inside once the scroll was unfold.

"_A-rank solo mission, duration unknown, location Land of Mist… A-rank, solo and Land of Mist, what a great combination I have here. Is Hokage-sama trying to get revenge on what I did to him when I was a genin?" _Iruka silently thought to himself. However, the random train of thoughts stopped abruptly when Iruka saw the printed crest on the mission details section.

"_No… This is… This crest… No way…"_ Iruka swore that his heart stopped beating for that few seconds.

"Hokage-sama, this crest… How... why…" not coherent enough to construct a full sentence, Iruka stared at the Hokage, wide chocolate eyes filled with shock.

"Yes Iruka. That is your family crest."

"My f-family crest… but why… how… I thought I'm the last…"

"No Iruka, you're not the last of Umino Clan and I need you to hunt down those who bear the same family crest as you in the Land of Mist."

The quiet silence that followed after the brief mission explanation was definitely not a good kind of silence. Iruka's eyes were filled with a completely blank look rather than his usually lively, cheerful and expressive brown orbs. And a while later, as Sandaime expected, the outburst of Umino Iruka, the chuunin with the infamous temper came like raging fire.

"But I thought I am the last one! I always did! Why no one ever tell me that I have a family? And now you want me to hunt down my family?!" Iruka practically shouted at the Hokage and although he knew it, he didn't care. He was outrageous.

"Iruka, calm down."

"Calm down? You want me to fucking calm down after you tell me I have a family and I didn't even fucking know it for like forever?" unable to control the anger and the feeling of betrayal surging through every single artery and vein in his body, Iruka banged his fists down on the Hokage's desk, hard.

That was however not a very smart move as two ANBU operatives who clad in capes that covered their entire body, showing only their ferocious masks rushed into the Hokage's office and pinned Iruka's arms to his back, holding him immobile.

"Fuck you! Let me go!" Iruka continue to trash and curse but that only served the ANBU operatives to hold him tighter making the position even more painful than it was.

"Iruka, stop it."

"No! You stop it! Let me go! Damn it!" Iruka yelled and cursed while struggling futilely under the grip of two ANBU operatives.

"Iruka, I need you to calm down. I will not have the ANBU to release you if you don't. Calm down," Sandaime said, this time with a stern voice clearly showing his authority.

"Why…"

"_Why..." _Iruka stopped trashing when his anger was slowly drained out from him. What remained was the feeling of loneliness and betrayal. The feeling when he first lost his parents, the darkness, the pain… Everything was coming back to him. _"Why…" _unknown to Iruka, fresh tears gathered at the very corner of his eyes and eventually fell down sliding across his cheeks.

"Release him," Sandaime having noticed the sudden lack of reaction from Iruka immediately ordered the ANBU operatives to do so. Iruka who rode an emotion roller coaster within half a day dropped to his knees once he was released from the unbreakable grip. With a wave of hand and a firm nod from Sandaime, the two ANBU operatives left the office reluctantly leaving a distressed Iruka alone with the Hokage again. The otherwise silent office was immediately filled with the ragged breathing and quiet sobbing of Iruka once the ANBU left.

"Iruka…" Sandaime started but only to be cut off by Iruka weakly.

"Why… Why you didn't tell me…"

Hearing Iruka's voice hoarse caused by all the yelling just now left a pang of guilt in Sandaime's heart. "Iruka, go home, take a shower and rest. I will pay you a visit at night and explain everything to you. Is that alright?" using his best I'm-in-charge kind of voice, Sandaime said to Iruka.

Unable to say anything and feeling all his energy being drained completely by the outburst just now, Iruka can only nod faintly.

"Good, now go. I will see you in a couple of hours," Sandaime gently help the still kneeling Iruka up and looked at the distress chuunin solemnly.

"I'm very sorry for not telling you this earlier. Don't make me worry and go get some rest. You are dismissed," with that, Sandaime gently stirred Iruka to the direction of his office door, urging him to go home.

Iruka who was still stunned from the realization can only weakly nod and walk out of the Hokage's office in even slower strides than when he came in. Watching the retreating chuunin's back, Sandaime let out a long and deep sigh. When the chuunin was totally out of his sight, Sandaime called for one of his ANBU guards.

"Drake!"

"Orders, Hokage-sama."

"Make sure Iruka-sensei reaches his home safely and gets his rest. If he tries to do something stupid, stop him," Sandaime said after inhaling deeply from his pipe and sighing once again.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," and in a surge of wind, the ANBU operative was gone as silently as he came in.

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A/N: This is my very first story and I'm not a native speaker of English so please bear with my horrible grammar and vocabs. T.T Please leave me a review if you can okay? Oh and another thing, should I make this into a kakairu fic or should I do an Iruka centric one? I bow to those who actually read the A/N^^ hope you all enjoy the story.


	2. Chapter 2

Living in the Mist (Chapter 2)

Disclaimers: Not mine

"Kakashi, Gai! You may come in now," Sandaime called out for the other two ninjas who were actually outside his office all the time after the ANBU operative teleported away.

"Dynamic Entry!" with an inhumane speed accompanied with his amplified voice, Gai appeared in the office in a gush of wind and sparkles, striking one of his random good guy pose and flashing a unbearable white grin at the Hokage. Sandaime who had experienced this for countless of time immediately turned around to dodge the deadly attack of the sparkles just in time to see Kakashi who was holding his adult reading material jumped into his office from the window. Rubbing his forehead tiredly on the antics of the two weirdest jounin in the village, Sandaime began to speak.

"Kakashi, what did I tell you about window?"

"A brilliant structure invented by human kind for the purpose of peeping?" Kakashi answered nonchalantly while fixing his single eye to the little orange book that he carried around everywhere.

"Not this one, the other one!" bellowed Sandaime with his face a flaring red.

"Don't get caught?" Kakashi answered with an innocent look, head tilted to the side and blinking his single eye. He did look innocent for a man who covered three quarter of his own face. Too bad, Sandaime had very high resistance to his cute puppy look due to years of training.

"Kakashi!" roared Sandaime with a vein pulsing and his ears a bright red colour as well. Kakashi silently mused to himself that he can actually see steam coming out from Sandaime's ears.

"Okay, okay, I know. Don't use the window to enter my office, there is another brilliant invention by human kind which is known as door," Kakashi kept his book in his vest pocket, held his gloved hands in front of himself and waved them slightly to show that he surrendered.

"Good and if you understand this, care to tell me why don't you use the door?"

"Because I'm a ninja and it is fun to rile you up?"

"Kakashi, remind me to kill you when you're out of service."

"Yes, most definitely I will, Hokage-sama," curving his single eye into happy little crescent, Kakashi answered merrily.

"But You Cannot Die My Eternal Rival! My Life is Incomplete without Our Youthful Competitions! You Must Continue Your Joyous and Youthful Life to Compete with me!" just when Sandaime and Kakashi started to wonder why was Gai so quiet today, Gai boomed with tears streaming down soaking his green spandex.

"Flood, Gai! Flood! Too much water! Stop bawling! Don't flood my paperwork!" Sandaime seeing the waterfall of tears immediately collected his paperwork and stacked them in his desk drawer to protect them from Gai's manly tears.

"Hmm…" not even sparing a look at Gai and ignoring the Hokage who was saving his paperwork, Kakashi fished out his Icha Icha Paradise from his vest pocket and started to read again.

"So Hip and Modern My Eternal…"

"Stop it, I summoned both of you here for serious matter," before Gai can finish his sentence, the Hokage interrupted him with a serious tone and a this-means-business kind of look on his face. This immediately caught the attention of the two ninjas as Gai stopped talking instantly and Kakashi kept his book back to his vest pocket again.

"I believe both of you heard the chaos in my office just now?" Sandaime asked while linking his fingers in front of himself, covering the lower part of his face. However, it sounded more like a statement rather than a question.

"Yes, we did, Hokage-sama," answered Gai in a surprisingly plain sentence without his usual sparkles and extraordinarily loud volume. Now, as crazy as Gai seemed to be, he was actually a reliable jounin. But too bad, very few of them actually saw him in action therefore he was labelled as the craziest and greenest jounin in history of Konoha. Sandaime and Kakashi were some of the few who knew his true ability when it came to battles and serious situations. And the situation right now definitely asked for full attention.

"Then I assume both of you now know that Iruka isn't the last one left in his family?" asked Sandaime, not really questioning.

"Yes, although I would like to know why," Kakashi answered in his usual bored tone but his single eye showed much more interest than his voice did.

"Alright, do any of you know about Iruka's family background?" Sandaime asked while looking at both of the jounin and then Kakashi spoke.

"Lost his parents during Kyuubi's attack and both of his parents were ninja," surprised by the little amount of knowledge he had on Iruka, Kakashi mentally noted that he should find out more about the said sensei.

"Then I suppose none of you know that Iruka's parents were Mist ninjas before they swore their loyalty to Konoha?" Sandaime tried hard to suppress his laughter when he saw the shocked look on both ninjas face. Kakashi looked like as if someone burnt his precious little orange book while Gai's jaw was practically reaching for the floor if Kakashi did not extend one foot to hold it in place. Kakashi was quick to compose himself again before he asked the Hokage the question both he and Gai dreading to know.

"They were Mist? Why and how they joined Konoha?"

"This I'm afraid I can't tell you too much either. What I can say is Iruka parents were loyal to Konoha from the day they joined us till the day they died."

"But why did they join us? Mist and Konoha have never been on good term before. Why did they betray their own village?" this time, Gai voiced out his question.

"The day when they came to Konoha, Iruka's mother was pregnant with Iruka and was badly injured. Iruka's dad was carrying her and begging everyone he saw to save his wife and baby. We saved them without any doubt because they weren't wearing their hitai-ate. We weren't aware that they were Mist ninjas. But after his wife's condition was stabilized, Iruka's father admitted to us that he was a Mist ninja and requested to be executed as long as his wife and baby will be safe in Konoha."

"He requested permanent residency in Konoha for his wife and baby in exchange for his life?"

"If you put it in another way, yes he did. We asked him to explain why did he come to Konoha but he did not say a thing except kill him or let him serve Konoha until the day he dies. The council wasn't too happy with this but Yondaime and I fought for him. The council wasn't that stupid to go against both of us so it was decided that he was to serve Konoha under full time surveillance and would be executed on spot if any suspicious behaviour was detected."

"But he kept to his word, together with his wife, both of them served Konoha with full loyalty until they died," Kakashi nodded his agreement to Gai's words.

"Yes they sacrificed for Konoha as our ninja. This is why they had their names engraved on to the memorial stone," Sandaime ended his story and let out a deep sigh.

"Interesting story but anything to do with us?" back to his slouched posture and bored tone, Kakashi asked. However, both Sandaime and Gai knew better. Kakashi was actually very interested in the whole situation. His sole eye can tell so much for those who knew how to read it but Kakashi himself never did realise that.

"Unfortunately, yes. Today morning a messenger bird from Mist dropped a letter here."

"A messenger bird from Mist… The next thing you know is Naruto stops wearing orange and pays for his own ramen," said Kakashi with a hint of sarcasm.

"Then Naruto has to stop wearing orange and pay for his own ramen because we did receive a letter from Mist this morning. Have a look," Sandaime countered while passing a piece of paper to Gai and Kakashi.

"Return the pendant and the Umino to their righteous owner. You know what am I talking about, Hokage. Return them if Konoha doesn't want a war with Mist. By Umino Clan of Mist. Isn't this the family crest of Umino? What can this possibly mean?" Gai asked after he scanned through the piece of paper, read it out loud while paying extra attention on the stamped symbol.

"Well, there is only one Umino in Konoha but what about the pendant?" having a bad feeling that things were going to get complicated, Kakashi questioned.

"A few years after Iruka's father resided in Konoha, he revealed to Yondaime and I that he betrayed his clan because they tried to kill his wife and baby."

"But why would they want to eliminate one of their own?" curious, Gai inquired.

"This is what he didn't tell us. He just said that Umino Clan was not a clan to be underestimated and he showed me this. Take a good look," channelling his chakra to unlock one of his desk drawers, Sandaime grabbed a black square box and passed it to Kakashi.

"A pendant with Iruka's family crest on it, I see. This is very well-made with such detailed crafting. Are they asking for this?" Gai asked while scrutinizing the pendant. His thick fuzzy brows furrowed together in concentration.

"It is chakra sensitive, a seal," Kakashi said suddenly after he adjusted his hitai-ate to look at the pendant with his Sharingan uncovered.

"That is very fast for you to notice it, Kakashi. Yes the seal is very faint, too faint to be noticed without a Sharingan or Byakugan but it is still there. No one can unlock this unless they have the chakra trait of the Umino family. Iruka's father gave me this so that I can guard it. He warned me never to let any other Umino lay their hands on the pendant as it will be disastrous for all the hidden villages," Sandaime explained while taking the black box from Kakashi and kept it back to the drawer.

"They wanted to kill him because he took the pendant and escaped?"

"This is what I deduced and most probably what happened back then. If the pendant is so important to them until they threatened us with war, we have to be cautious. We can't risk a war with Mist right now as they are alliance with Sound. I'll have to convince Iruka to go to them with the pendant, pretending to join them and try to find out what are they up to. If they are a threat to us, we'll have to eliminate them."

"And our mission is?" Gai and Kakashi asked almost simultaneously.

"Both of you are to shadow Iruka when he goes on this mission. Protect him when he travels to Mist and when he spies on his clan. He must be taken back to Konoha safely after he completes his mission."

"But Our Youthful Sensei Doesn't Cope Well with The Fact That He Has a Family!" exclaimed Gai flailing his hands in every direction comically trying to ease the suffocating tension in the Hokage's office. Thankfully, that did the trick.

"That will be my job to explain and ask Iruka to take the mission. I want both of you to be prepared and don't leave the village for the time being. Once I get Iruka to agree on this mission, you will be expected to leave the village immediately. I'll summon both of you for another detailed mission briefing before departure. Understand?" Sandaime asked with a slight smile on his face after watching Gai's action.

"Understood," both Kakashi and Gai confirmed their affirmation.

"Good. You're dismissed. I have to explain this all over again to Iruka later. Spare me some time to rest my abused tongue," the Hokage joked slightly before sending both of the ninja out of his office.

"Yes Respectful Hokage-sama, Your Tongue is Very Important and Youthful! Please Let It Rests Well! I Will Be Going for My Daily Manly Practice Again!" Gai back to his loud and eccentric self again, boomed while rushing out the office leaving some sparkles trailing behind him. The Hokage shook his head in total defeat and saw Kakashi jumping out from his office's window, again.

"Kakashi! Door! I tell you Door!" roared Sandaime when the jump Kakashi made caused a big mess on his desk.

"Yes, yes. Door is good, window is better though" and with a poof, Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of dust and wind once he jumped out of the window.

"I'm so going to kill him once he has no use for the village," Sandaime rubbed his temple and decided not to bang his head against the desk because that would not look too graceful for a Hokage.

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"U-u-Umino, there they are," murmured Sandaime to himself in the ninja's record office. "This should make the explaining session for Iruka easier I hope," shaking his head, Sandaime sighed. He really should ask some genin who were too free for their good to clean the office from time to time. The record office was starting to look like a graveyard with all the decorations of dust and spider web.

After retrieving both of Iruka's parents' record files, Sandaime headed back to his office to do his paperwork which could not be finished any time soon but the session with Iruka later seemed to be worse. He was entirely not too excited about that. "This is so troublesome," Sandaime said to no one in particular and suddenly realised that he sounded like Shikamaru one second back then.

"Well, can't help it," Sandaime chuckled to himself and once again immersed in his enormous pile of paperwork on his desk while waiting for the night fall.

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In the mean time, Kakashi and Gai were sitting on top of the Hokage Monument while looking far ahead from their high up position.

"Kakashi, are you thinking what am I thinking?" Gai asked in a surprisingly normal tone.

"Yeah, the Hokage is definitely hiding something from us," nodding slightly, Kakashi agreed.

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A/N: Thanks to those who reviewed and gave some opinions =D I really appreciate that. They helped. Love you all *hugs* Well, here is the second chapter. A fast update this time hehe. I hope I got Kakashi's characterization right. =( Hope you guys enjoyed this chappie and please review if you are up to it. ^^ Thanks.


	3. Chapter 3

Living in the Mist (Chapter 3)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

Standing under the warm shower spray that soothed his sore muscles, Iruka was trying to ignore the fact that he was actually crying. The tears mingled with the water and the quiet sobbing drowned by the sound of the shower spray. Iruka knew that after his breakdown, he would be more clear-headed so he just allowed himself to cry. He was not a person who abided the code which stated that ninja brings no emotion after all.

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"Report, Drake," Sandaime asked the ANBU operative in a low tone.

"Iruka-sensei went back home straight after your dismissal. Took a long shower and fell asleep on the couch while correcting papers."

"That's the Iruka we all know, workaholic much," Sandaime chuckled, "You're dismissed, Drake."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," with that the ANBU operative teleported away while Sandaime knocked on Iruka's apartment front door.

"What now?" Iruka snapped, annoyed because someone disturbed his nap. He was dreaming about Naruto eating a lot of ramen in Ichiraku and suddenly Teuchi decided to set that day as Konoha Ramen Day and all ramen was going to be fr… and the knocking on his door started. He opened the front door ready to strangle whoever that stood outside his door but started to apologise instead once he saw who was standing there.

"I'm so sorry Hokage-sama, I don't know it was you," Iruka bowed with his ears a bright red colour, clearly embarrassed.

"It's alright Iruka. But it is not very polite to let a guest standing at your front door without inviting him in and serve him some tea," Sandaime said in a feigned serious tone but the twinkle of mirth in his eyes showed that he was actually joking.

"Err… Welcome in then, Hokage-sama. I'll prepare the tea," scratching the back of his neck, Iruka awkwardly invited Sandaime in.

A hustled moment in the kitchen later, Iruka reappeared in his living room with a pot of tea and two cups occupying both of his hands.

"Hokage-sama, I wanted to apologise for my…" Iruka said bowing his head while setting the tea pot and cups on the square table which was scattered with his pre-genin papers.

Before Iruka can finish his sentence, Sandaime interrupted him, "Iruka, there's no need for you to apologise. If someone has to apologise, it should be me."

"B-but, Hokage-sama…" wide eyed, Iruka stared at Sandaime who was sipping tea with a calm expression.

"Iruka, I believe you're calm enough not to throw a fit again right?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama. I'm sorry for…"

"I'll explain why I hide this from you but first I need you to read this," cutting off Iruka in mid-sentence, Sandaime pulled out two record files from his Hokage robe and gave them to Iruka.

"T-these are my parents' ninja records. I don't think I have the authorization to look at them, Hokage-sama," manning the mission desk for quite some time now, one look at the worn black files was enough for Iruka to realise that these are the information that only the Hokage and Ibiki, the Head of Torture and Interrogation Department having access to.

"I'm the Hokage, remember? Of course I know. I'm giving you the authorization to look at it now so go ahead and read it. Oh, and Iruka?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"Learn to make better tea will you?"

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When Iruka started to read the file, Sandaime looked very closely at the play of emotions on Iruka's expressive face. He concluded that he did not like what he saw even the least bit. Iruka looked blank and motionless.

"Iruka, are you alright?"

"Iruka… Iruka, Iruka!" the lack of reply from Iruka made Sandaime called out his name a few more times, each slightly louder than the other.

"M-Mist… My parents were Mist? Suspected to be hunted by Umino Clan? Umino has a clan? Pendant from my dad? W-What are these? This can't be true…" finally getting the cooperation from his tongue but still unable to speak properly, Iruka looked back and forth from the file to the Hokage in his big brown eyes which were currently as wide as saucers.

"Yes, they were Mist and Umino Clan was suspected to be the one that injured your mother. This is one of the reasons I want you to hunt them down. And yes, Umino has a clan in Mist. The pendant is here, take a look. And lastly, all of these are true," Sandaime answered all of Iruka's questions in one go leaving Iruka to stare at him dumbly, trying to process the words that were spoken a moment ago.

"Iruka, close your mouth if you don't want any insect to fly into it. Take the pendant, here," after a couple of minutes extending his hand that held the black box to Iruka but did not receive any kind action from the totally stunned chuunin, Sandaime pushed the box into Iruka's palm.

"Pendant?"

"Well, a pendant as in necklace with ornament. Take a look at it, Iruka," feeling a little guilty for finding Iruka's gold fish-like reaction funny, Sandaime tried hard not to laugh but he was unable to suppress the smirk that donned his face.

Finally stunned out of his own stupor, Iruka opened the black square box ever so slowly with his shaking fingers while trying to control his frantic heartbeats. _"Something my dad left with Sandaime…" _was what Iruka thought when he opened the box.

"My family crest…" whispering to himself, Iruka touched the pendant with the tip of his finger and trailing the pendant with feather light touches as if the pendant would break if more force was applied.

Sandaime who was observing the facial display of Iruka's emotions decided to give some time for the poor chuunin to absorb all of the information that were stuffed into him in one day. Iruka was coping better than he imagined since the screaming had not started yet. He was looking at one of the pictures in Iruka's living room, reminiscing Iruka's childhood when a sudden glow of chakra caught his attention.

"W-what?" Iruka eyes widen again impossibly when he saw his own ocean blue chakra glowing when he touched the kanji of sea carved in the centre of the crest.

"Iruka! What did you do?" Sandaime was immediately on alert when he saw the chakra glow but he was getting worried as he sensed Iruka's chakra disruption. Iruka's chakra was pulsing wildly and the ocean blue glow was getting brighter and brighter until the whole pendant glowed in a faint blue colour as well.

"I don't know… It just…"

"Iruka, stop! Get your hand away from the pendant now!"

"I can't…"

"Kage-bushin no jutsu!" making hand seals with incredible speed, Sandaime immediately created a couple of clones once he heard Iruka said that. "Get Kakashi, Ibiki and Neji here! Fetch a medic team immediately!" the clones vanished once Sandaime gave out his order.

"Iruka! I need you to stop your chakra right now! Block it at every single chakra point in your body! Can you do that?" Sandaime yelled to Iruka in urgency while grabbing Iruka's shoulders and shook it none too gently.

"Y-yes…" Iruka managed to ground out an affirmation although his head started to feel heavy and his eyelids were not listening to him anymore.

"On the count of three, stop your chakra. Three, two, one, now!" and on that second Iruka stopped his chakra, Sandaime slammed his palm on Iruka's chest and a black swirling pattern was formed, creating a seal that effectively sealed off Iruka's chakra. The ocean blue glow on Iruka's hand dimmed instantly but the faint blue glow on the pendant remained and with a soft tick, the pendant fell to the floor as Iruka went lax and slipped into unconsciousness.

"What happened, Hokage-sama?" right at the moment, the medic team barged into Iruka's apartment as they arrived together with Ibiki and Neji.

Kakashi as usual was jumping into the apartment using the window and he was more than surprised to find Iruka laying on the floor, motionless. The urgent voice of Hokage immediately brought him back to full attention at current situation.

"Neji, look at Iruka's chakra flow and give me a rough account on his condition! Kakashi, Ibiki! Check the pendant! Medics, start working on Iruka!" Sandaime yelled out his orders to everyone in the room with a worried look grazing his aged appearance.

"Byakugan!" hearing his order, Neji activated his Byakugan and scanned through Iruka's chakra flow with his pale eyes. His brows were knitted together and veins were bulging at his temples as he concentrated on reading the chakra flow in Iruka's body.

"This is impossible…" murmured Neji under his breath but all the elite ninjas in the room managed to hear what he said easily.

"What is it Neji? Report!"

"Iruka-sensei's Forth Gates were opened, most possibly due to sudden burst of large amount of chakra. The other three hundred sixty one chakra release points were slightly burnt due to chakra burst as well. He is going to have chakra depletion but he will be fine as the chakra flow was stopped in time," Neji explained.

"Forth Gates? But his physical appearance does not show anything. Is it even possible to activate gates naturally just like that?" one of the medics who was busy channelling chakra into Iruka asked.

"Most probably is something in the pendant that caused the chakra burst in Iruka's body and the seal absorbed them before the chakra was completely channelled to his whole body," Kakashi said, standing at a far corner of the room while holding the glowing pendant, both of his eyes visible.

"The seal must have been triggered once it sensed the chakra of an Umino. It is slightly weaker compared to what I saw in the afternoon. Most likely because of the absorption of Iruka-sensei's chakra has disrupted the seal," Kakashi continued his deduction while adjusting his hitai-ate back to position.

"It is impossible to reverse the changes done as the pendant accepts only Umino's family chakra trait," this time Ibiki spoke with his deep, gruff voice. "I've tried to repair the seal by channelling my chakra into the seal but it rejected my chakra completely."

"Alright, medics get Iruka to hospital right now. Immediate treatment is required. He is expected to go on a mission very soon. Neji, get Gai-sensei to my office and you may go. Kakashi and Ibiki, meet me in my office within five minutes. Dismissed," with that said, the Hokage vanished in a poof, taking the pendant with him as he moved past Kakashi.

All other ninjas in the room vanished one by one and Iruka's apartment dropped silent as the chaos was finally over.

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A while later at Training Ground Eleven…

"Gai-sens…"

"Oh My Youthful and Brilliant Student, Neji-kun! Why Are You Here on This Youthful Night with Moon Shining Bright above Us? Is It Possible That You Are Here to Join Us for Our Youthful Night Training?" Gai who was in the middle of doing one hand jump with Lee stopped his training and boomed when he saw the Hyuuga prodigy approached them.

"No, Gai-sens…" before Neji can finish his sentence, Gai hugged him and allowed his manly tears to flow free soaking Neji's long brown hair.

"Neji, I'm So Happy That You Finally Realise the Importance of Youthful Training! Even A Genius Needs His Practice! Am I Right, Gai-sensei?" Lee said while striking a thumb-up pose at Neji, asked for his jounin sensei approval on his statement.

"Oh Lee! You Are So Right! Brilliant! I Am So Proud of You!" Gai instantly approved Lee's statement by flashing a wide grin at him and brought him in for a group hug together with Neji.

A glorious sunset appeared behind them.

"Gai-Sensei!"

"Lee!"

"A-air… I'm suffoca…"

A big rock and huge waves appeared behind them this time.

"Gai-Sensei!"

"Lee!"

"H-help m-me…"

And with the background scenery in place, Gai and Lee continued their manly hugging and bawling session while Neji struggled to get free from the Taijutsu master death grip, futilely. After what seemed like a century long for Neji, Gai and Lee finally stopped their group hug session and the background scenery miraculously disappeared.

"So My Youthful Students, Should We Start Our Manly Training?" boomed Gai, striking his good guy pose number six with Lee mimicking him on his left. Both of them flashing their impossibly sparkling white grin at Neji, making the whole training ground as bright as day.

"H-Hokage-sama asked for your p-presence in his office right now, Gai-sensei. E-excuse me now," Neji panted while he stood awkwardly trying to prevent his now wet and salty hair to touch himself. He was too late to dodge the deadly attack of sparkles so he chose to ignore it instead. Without waiting a reply from Gai, Neji made some hand seals and disappeared from the most horrible place on Earth known as Training Ground Eleven.

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A while more later at the Hokage office…

"What is taking Gai so long?" asked the Hokage, directing the question to the two elite ninjas in his office.

"He got lost on the road of life?" Kakashi half-heartedly answered the Hokage while reading his Icha Icha Paradise with a slightest hint of blush on his exposed face.

"Hatake, stop reading that filth and look at the pendant," Ibiki gruff voice echoed in the office.

"But this is getting really good you see. Jira was peeping at Tsu in the onsen and then Tsu caught him and then…" Kakashi started to whine while putting on his cute puppy look again.

"Quiet Hatake! Keep that filth or burn it I don't care. Come here and look at the pendant! I won't ask you to help if I have a Sharingan myself!" Ibiki roared at Kakashi, irritated with his laid back attitude.

"Alright, alright," closing his book, Kakashi slouched to where Ibiki was sitting while mumbling, "I wonder if he has any sex drive. It's so unhealthy for him to ignore his basic needs."

"HATAKE! I HEARD YOU!"

"Oops?"

A moment of silence later…

"So what happened to Jira and Tsu?"

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A/N: Ta-dah, chapter 3! I sure update really fast nowadays. - -''' Anyway for those who are interested, the kanji of sea is 海 (pronounced as umi or kai). I love Gai, he is so much fun to write. And of course I love the perverts of Konoha too. XD Again, thanks to those who reviewed. The same for this chappie, review please^^ I would love to hear from all of you.


	4. Chapter 4

Living in the Mist (Chapter 4)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

"Dynamic Entry! Behold the Youthful Arrival of Konoha's Beautiful Green Beast!" boomed Gai once he entered the Hokage's office striking his good guy pose number seven. The lack of reaction from the occupants in the office was enough for Gai to drop his pose and started to wonder what happened. It was quite unusual for people not to react to his marvellous entrance.

What Gai saw was definitely not what he wanted to see. Sitting in front of the Hokage desk, Ibiki was glaring at Kakashi and Sandaime with such ferocity that both of the recipients of the glares were bowing their head low and fidgeting uncomfortably on their seats. The situation can be categorised as funny if one ignored the two kicked-puppies in the office were actually two of the strongest ninjas in Konoha. Having this piece of knowledge just made the whole situation frightening. And being the good, kind-hearted guy he was, Gai decided to save his Eternal Rival and Sandaime from this miserable situation.

"Oh Youthful Ibiki-san…"

"Gai, shut up and go sit with Hatake. One more sparkling word from you and I'll burn all your spandex and shave a line right through the middle of your hair," not even bothering to listen to Gai, Ibiki threatened and terrorized yet another poor jounin.

"Yes, Ibiki-san," Gai meekly agreed without any sparkles and together with Kakashi and Sandaime, they made a group of three kicked-puppies in the Hokage office.

"Shall we start the meeting then?" having absolute control over the occupants of the office, Ibiki asked without really asking.

"Yes, Ibiki-san," a uniform of three different voices answered timidly, fully terrorized by the threats of Morino Ibiki that they knew would be carried out without a doubt if they disobeyed him. The Head of T&I Department did not give empty threats ever.

"Ibiki, have you read Iruka's parents' record files before?" recovered from his terrorized stupor, Sandaime asked while taking out both of the files from his robe and passing them to Ibiki.

"Yes and it seems that what stated in there is true. The pendant rejects my chakra completely," taking the black files from Sandaime, Ibiki looked at the pendant on his hand which was glowing in a very faint blue glow.

"Ibiki, I need you to identify the materials of this pendant without destroying it. Like Kakashi said, there must be some kind of material in it that caused Iruka's chakra to burst. We know that the seal is absorbing the chakra but we need to know how. Why the sudden chakra burst and how it manages to cause the gates to open. Submit a report to me in three days. Clear?"

"Clear."

"What happened to Iruka-sensei?" not daring to be too youthful with his speech because of the fear for Ibiki's wrath, Gai asked in his normal tone.

"He touched the pendant, if I'm not mistaken the kanji and suddenly the pendant was sucking chakra out of him. I managed to seal off his chakra in time but his Forth Gates were already opened. I was too careless. When Iruka's father said no other Umino, I never thought that he meant Iruka as well," feeling guilty for his mistake, Sandaime sighed.

"Well, no one could have expected that. I was thinking of the other members of Umino Clan as well. Back to the point, the chakra that the pendant absorbed wasn't going anywhere. Look at the kanji, the first dot is half-filled with blue chakra right now, as if it is charging up or something," Kakashi pointed out his observations while trying to console the now gloomy Sandaime.

"Yes, the first dot is definitely filled with Iruka-sensei's chakra. One wrong step and this thing can actually suck all of the chakra out of an Umino. Those with Umino chakra traits who touched this will most probably meet death caused by chakra depletion if no one is there to stop their chakra flow," all of the occupants in the room nodded their agreements at Ibiki.

"We can't take any more steps before the report on the pendant is complete. Now we have to find some ways to inform Umino Clan that we are actually intending to return Iruka-sensei and the pendant but not so fast. I'm worried that they will choose to attack us if no reply is given," Sandaime said while rubbing his forehead in a tired gesture.

"How about sending a messenger bird?" Gai suggested.

"Are you sure that they won't roast it and have a nice meal together with sake?"

"I doubt messenger bird is that tasty. Anyway messenger bird should be good as they sent us their letter through messenger bird as well. I'll inform them that Iruka will set off to Mist in one week time. We can't afford to let them know what will the pendant do just yet but I'm afraid they already had the idea," Sandaime sighed again when he thought about the troublesome clan.

"I wonder why they take twenty something years to make a fuss over some events that happened so long ago," Kakashi whined slightly, hating that this is getting more and more complicated.

"Well, we'll find out eventually but now we have to make sure Iruka wakes up as soon as possible and when he is fit, the mission will commence," Sandaime said while looking at Kakashi and Gai.

"But have you get Iruka-sensei to agree on this mission?" asked Gai, curious on this matter as he knew that the fiery tempered chuunin would not back up so easily.

"Oh, damn," sighed Sandaime while restraining himself from banging his head on the desk, "I was too busy sealing off his chakra that I forgot about that."

"We can spare the time to wait for Iruka-sensei to wake up and get him to agree on the mission as I need time to analyse this pendant as well," Ibiki said with his deep voice after a long time of silence.

"Yes, we can spare some time for that. Anyway, Kakashi, Gai, your mission scope might have changed. Iruka will be too weak to go on this mission alone. So I will have one of you to accompany him to join the clan instead while the other continues to shadow him. So, which among you two is a better spy?" asked Sandaime although they all knew the answer already, except Gai of course.

"I'll Accompany Our Youthful Sen-"

"Gai, spandex and hair," said Ibiki nonchalantly while fixing his eyes on the pendant, as if he could get some information by staring at it. The threat still worked though as Gai immediately kept all his sparkles to himself and started to speak with normal tone again.

"I volunteer to accompany Iruka-sensei to join th-."

"Request rejected," deadpanned Sandaime and he turned to look at Kakashi, "You'll join Iruka for this mission and you'll need some kind of disguise to get in. I give you three days to think about the appropriate disguise. Is that sufficient?"

"Yeah, I'll come up with something," Kakashi mumbled while scratching the back of his head and silently thinking that everything is so troublesome.

"Gai, pick your jaw back up. Ibiki, make sure nothing about Umino Clan and the pendant reaches the ears of others except those who are involve in this mission or have a jounin rank or higher. Those who already knew, keep them quiet," Sandaime ordered.

"Yes," nodded Ibiki while Gai finally recovered from the rejection and close his mouth.

"Good. All of you meet me here three days later at noon. Don't be late Kakashi or I'll have Ibiki to burn your precious collection. Dismissed," Sandaime said, glad that the night is finally over. He had to wake up early to visit Iruka tomorrow.

With the magic word given, the three elite ninjas vanished from the room silently. Even Gai knew better to do his dynamic exit in the presence of Ibiki. He loved his spandex and bowl-cut hair after all.

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Staring at the pendant on his hand, Ibiki let out a deep sigh when he knew that he had to work overtime again for the next few days and he still have to terrorize some poor medics. His office was really becoming his second home.

"Have you eaten?" a none too sweet voice came from the window of his office shocked Ibiki for a little as he did not sense her presence until she started to speak.

"No and don't use the window to enter my office," not feeling too energetic to roar, Ibiki plainly said instead.

"Whoa, you did not yell at me for that! Next thing I know is you will agree to let me spank you. So, will you let me spank you?" jumping in from the window, Anko grinned while putting a box of bento in front of Ibiki.

"Thank you and no," Ibiki deadpanned but still thankful to her for bringing the food when his stomach was protesting for his abusive treatment.

"You're welcome and ouch, I'm hurt. Do you know that there are so many people queuing from Konoha to Suna just to let me spank them?" climbing on to Ibiki's desk and sitting on it, Anko asked while opening the bento box for the stoic man she had grew to adore.

"No I don't know and I don't want to know either. Keep that glorious achievement of yours to yourself," stuffing food into his mouth, Ibiki was seriously thankful to the sadistic woman he had grew to love.

"Aww, now my baby is jealous. Don't worry, I may have spanked one hundred of them but still my heart is always with your ass," cooed Anko while laughing at the choking expression on Ibiki's otherwise stoic face.

"Anko, warn me if you want to say something like that!" finally getting the food to go down his oesophagus, Ibiki glared at Anko but his expression turned worried as Anko was looking at something on his desk with such intensity that she did not even hear him.

"Anko, what is it?" realising that Anko was looking at the pendant, Ibiki asked while shaking her shoulder lightly.

"I don't know… I must have seen this somewhere before but I can't remember…"

"This is Iruka's family crest remember?" Ibiki reminded while looking at Anko as if she had grew another head.

"No, I know that but this pendant is really familiar. I can't tell why though. Urgh, my head is really messed up," Anko sighed in defeat when she could not recall what exactly was so familiar about the whole pendant.

"It's alright. Don't force yourself to think too much but if you remember anything just tell me," using an extraordinary soft voice that was reserved for Anko only, Ibiki said gently while putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I will. Thanks and eat up! I know you are bulky but I love my man to remain manly," back to her old self again, Anko grinned and patted Ibiki on his back.

"Go find Gai then."

"He's green."

Unable to counter this statement, Ibiki continued to stuff food inside his mouth, ignoring Anko completely.

"Aww, my baby is jealous again. Anyway, don't overwork yourself. I'll be going first. If you changed your mind on the spanking issue, my bedroom door is always open for you," Anko grinned when she jumped out of the window leaving Ibiki to look at her unbelievably.

"That woman is hopeless," mumbled Ibiki to himself as a small smile tugged on his face.

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In the mean time, Kakashi was hopping on rooftops when he caught sight of the pristine white building of Konoha Hospital. His thought immediately went to the motionless Iruka laying on floor he saw moments ago.

"_Should I visit him? We are nothing more than acquaintance though. And I have to bring something if I'm visiting someone in the hospital right?" _Kakashi, who was having an internal conversation with himself, scratched the back of his neck as he pondered what to do.

"_Maa, I might as well as visit him since I have nothing better to do other than read Icha Icha. Oh right, the disguise but that can wait, never mind. So, what to bring… What to bring?" _suddenly made up his mind, Kakashi raced back to his apartment gleefully to take his get well gift to Iruka.

Holding the said item on his hand, Kakashi proudly nodded to himself as he was sure Iruka would like his get well gift a lot. Many people had been dying to get this thing on his hand but they were never successful. However he was Hatake Kakashi - the infamous Copy Ninja, of course he was different from many people. With his get well gift set, now what he needed to do was write a get well note on a get well card for Iruka.

But more problems arose. First, he did not have any card. Second, he did not have any pen. He was Hatake Kakashi for the love of god. These kinds of problems would not stop him from getting his gift to Iruka. So being the resourceful person he was, Kakashi found some unused mission report forms in his bathroom cabinet together with some rotten potatoes. How they get in there, he was not too sure but as long as he had some papers to use it did not really matter right?

And now his problem was how to write without a pen.

"_Should I use blood? But that will make my get well card looks so violent," _having an internal conversation again, Kakashi decided against his own suggestion.

"_Oh right! The hospital has them. I'm a genius,"_ Kakashi mused and after everything was set, he jumped out from his apartment's window and hopped to the direction of the hospital.

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"Hatake-san, what can I help you?" one of the nurse at the information counter looked dreamily at Kakashi while asking in a sweet voice.

"Can I borrow a pen?" curving his eye into little crescent, Kakashi merrily requested.

"Y-yes, Hatake-san. Here you go," the nurse answered weakly as she was swooning from Kakashi's smile.

Taking the pen, Kakashi walked to the side to slouch against the wall and started to write with his ineligible chicken scratch writing that can rival with Konohamaru. Finally with all the components of a get well gift prepared, he was ready to present his gift for Iruka.

"Thanks for the pen. Can you please tell me the room number of Umino Iruka? He was brought here few hours back," returning the pen to the swooning nurse, Kakashi asked.

"You're welcome. He is in r-room 330," again staring at Kakashi, the nurse answered weakly.

"Alright, thanks," with that, Kakashi happily walked away from the counter without noticing that the nurse had fainted.

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"Room 330, there!" Kakashi did a mental happy dance as he was proud of himself for being so considerate for his acquaintance.

Opening the door silently and watching Iruka sleeping soundly, Kakashi placed his get well gift with the "card" slipped in it on the bedside table. One more look at the sleeping chuunin and chuckling slightly at the trail of saliva trickling out from the side of Iruka's mouth, Kakashi teleported away from the room.

On the bedside table, one worn little orange book with a big signature on the front cover was glimmering in the dim light. The paper that was stucked half way out of the book was written with: Get well soon, Iruka-sensei. Hope this helps with your… daily youthful semen producing activity as Gai called it. Signed henohenomoheji.

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A/N: I bring you chapter 4! The gift part is a little too long for my liking so I'm not too happy with myself =[ anyway lets enjoy some sweet fluffy moments of Ibiki and Anko! If any of you missed out the kanji of sea on last chapter, here is it 海. Thanks to those who reviewed, I really love you all *hugs* drop me a review for this chappie as well, pwease *puppy-eyes stare*. =D


	5. Chapter 5

Living in the Mist (Chapter 5)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

"Iruka-sensei is what?" roared the whole bunch of pre-genin. The sheer volume of their voices was no doubt able to wake the dead.

"Iruka-sensei is hospitalised so I'm here to subst…" not having a chance to finish his sentence, the substitute teacher was immediately cut off by the overreacting bunch.

"Is Iruka-sensei injured? Did he cut himself with a kunai? Did he eat rotten potatoes and had really bad diarrhoea? Is he dead?"

Once the sacred word was said, the whole bunch of mini ninjas froze instantly. The substitute teacher saw this golden chance and started to talk again only to be cut off by another outburst.

"Oh nooooo! Iruka-sensei is dead! What should we do?"

"We should visit him to make sure that he is dead!" shouted Konohamaru in the chaos. Surprisingly, all of his classmates heard him and they rushed to the hospital immediately leaving a stunned substitute teacher in their now empty and silent class.

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"Shh… Father told me that we should be quiet in a hospital," Hanabi whispered.

"We should ask someone where is Iruka-sensei."

"But I thought the dead will be in graveyard."

"No, if you are a newly-dead they will put you in a hospital first."

"Oh, I see. Nurse, ask the nurse!"

"Where is Iruka-sensei!" roared Konohamaru, contrasting their hushed conversations just now. Hanabi rewarded him with a punch on his head and a Hyuuga style death glare.

"Excuse me. Can you please tell us where is Iruka-sensei?" Moegi, having better manners than Konohamaru asked the nurse politely.

"You are his students, aren't you? How nice of you to visit him! He is in room 330 but he is still sleeping so be quiet okay?" the nurse answered while ruffling Konohamaru's hair slightly, ignoring the big swell she felt on his head.

"Thanks!" and the whole bunch of devils raced to their destination trying hard to be as quiet as possible although they were not doing a very good job.

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"Is that saliva on Iruka-sensei's pillow?" noticing a damp spot on the pillow currently occupied by Iruka, Hanabi whispered.

"Can the dead still produce saliva?"

"The nurse told us that sensei is sleeping so most probably he is still alive."

"We should wait until he is awake then."

"Good idea… hey, what is that orange book?"

Hearing that, Konohamaru reached for the said book and tried to interpret the writing on the paper that was slipped inside.

"Wow, this handwriting is as bad as mine. Too bad I can't read my own handwriting as well. Hey, do you guys think Iruka-sensei keeps his pop quiz answers in this book?"

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"Urgh, my head hurts," whimpered Iruka just in time when Kakashi and Sandaime entered his room that was occupied with a bunch of mini ninjas.

"Oh, Iruka! You are awake I see," Sandaime said in delight when he saw Iruka twitched and tried to bury his face into the pillow, hiding from the offensive sunlight.

"Hokage-sama, what happened?" Iruka asked while sitting up and reached for the glass of water on his bedside table.

"Do you remember the pendant sucking out your chakra?"

"Oh right. The pendant… Why are all of you here?" finally noticing his bunch of hellions that were standing at a far corner of his room, Iruka asked curiously.

"We heard that Iruka-sensei is hispotalised. No hopatilased… How to say that word again?" Konohamaru looked at Hanabi trying to get an answer from her but before Hanabi can answer Moegi wailed.

"We heard that Iruka-sensei is dead so we came here to make sure!"

Once this was stated, the group of mini ninjas went into their hyperactive mode again. Silently taking a large breath, Iruka bellowed, "QUIET, ALL OF YOU!"

Everyone froze instantly and Iruka was vaguely pleased with his lung capacity. However, the one moment of silence was broken by Konohamaru slightly trembling voice.

"Sensei, what is fondling the boobs? Is this going to come out in our exam? Why you never taught us this?"

"Huh?" unable to interpret the situation just yet, Iruka can only stared at Konohamaru dumbly.

However, there was a genius in the room. The said genius interpreted Konohamaru's question immediately and he decided that he should answer it to save Iruka from the embarrassment.

"You see, fondling the boobs is when a person is…" in a sing-song voice, Kakashi started his explanation just to be cut off by Iruka's yelling.

"TOUCHING THE HAIR! Yes, touching the hair Konohamaru," yelled Iruka once he recovered from his stupor. He would NOT let Hatake Kakashi answered that question.

"So fondling the boobs means touching the hair?"

"Yes. Now all of you go back to class. Apparently I'm not dead so get back to your class and behave yourselves. Understood?" using his best teacher's voice, Iruka ordered while pretending his face was not a flaring red.

Iruka's students having spent too much time with him recognised the voice immediately. That was not just a simple teacher's voice. That was a voice with an undercurrent showing that Iruka-sensei was going to kill someone very soon so all of them being the ever clever pre-genin, scrambled out of the room as fast as possible, anxious to get away from the scary Iruka-sensei.

"Hatake, tell me you did not leave your book in my hospital room," staring at the orange book at the corner of his room, Iruka said in an eerily calm voice.

"But I did! I even made a card for you!" Kakashi, not knowing what was going to hit him next went to pick up the book together with the so called card and held them out to Iruka while smiling merrily. Iruka stared unbelievably at the "card" and read the chicken scratch writings on it without much difficulty as he was already familiar with these kinds of handwritings.

"Daily… youthful… semen… producing… activity… Hokage-sama, can I kill him?" scrunching the paper in his hand, Iruka grounded out his request, turning around to ask the Hokage for permission only to find out that the Hokage had long ago fainted on the chair.

And so the chaos started again…

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A long while later in the Hokage's office…

"Kakashi, use your brain next time when you want to give people a get well gift," said the Hokage tiredly. He was so shocked until he fainted when he heard his grandchild spoke the three unimaginable words for an eight years old kid. The medics managed to wake him up not too long ago with not much effort, as in pouring water directly on top of his head.

"But I used it," whined Kakashi. His condition was not any better than the Hokage as ninety percent of his body was bandaged messily due to a certain sea creature's domestic violence case. The medics were not too enthusiastic to heal him as they said it would be a waste of chakra. Besides, they were silently cheering for Iruka for beating up the handsome asshole that brought a lot of troubles for them every time he was hospitalised.

"Can you believe he tried to burn my gift? Luckily I casted a protection jutsu on that book, if not there will be ashes instead of a book now," Kakashi continued to whine while cradling his precious orange book close to his heart.

"Quiet Hatake. Stop whining. I have done some basic analysis on the pendant. This is the result. Have a look," pushing a folder each to Kakashi and Sandaime, Ibiki sighed. He could not understand why on earth the two miserable samples of human kind in front of him were indeed two of the best ninjas in Konoha.

"You mean the material of the kanji was different from the rest of the pendant and it was the cause of chakra burst?" scanning through the report, Kakashi asked, all the whining signs gone.

"Yes, it is a kind of stone but I could not identify what it is yet as Konoha does not have it. The stone draws out a person maximum chakra level while the seal absorbs them before the chakra can be transferred to the whole body," Ibiki explained while looking from Sandaime to Kakashi.

"This explains why Iruka did not show any physical changes even though his Forth Gates were opened," Sandaime nodded when he thought about the event yesterday.

"Hokage-sama, yesterday Anko saw the pendant and she thought that it was familiar to her although she couldn't recall anything more than that. I was suspecting that perhaps she saw this when she was Orochimaru's student," looking at the Hokage directly, Ibiki said.

"This could be bad if Orochimaru is involved. We can't possibly fight both Mist and Sound at once," listening to the not too pleasant extra piece of information, Sandaime inhaled deeply from his pipe.

"We are not sure yet but it is better if we are prepared," Ibiki said while turning to look at Kakashi who was silent for some time now.

Noticing the attention he received from Ibiki and Sandaime, Kakashi removed his stare from the pendant that Ibiki put on the desk just now and said, "I've been thinking, the first dot of the kanji was filled with Iruka's blue chakra after the seal absorbed them. The seal became weaker after that. So if the kanji is fully filled with chakra, the seal will most likely break and..."

"No! I need to see the Hokage! It is urgent!" a voice from the other side of the door caught the attention of the occupants in the office.

"Hokage-sama is in a meeting, you'll have to wait for…"

"But it is really urgent!" cried the voice again.

Sandaime being irritated by the whole situation went to open his door to face one chuunin whose hair was in total disarray and chest heaving heavily with his panted breaths.

"What is it?" Sandaime asked.

"Hokage-sama, G-Gai-san asked you to go to the h-hospital right away," panted the chuunin while flashing a triumphant look at the ANBU guards who forbid him to go in just now.

Turning around to look at Kakashi and Ibiki, the Hokage asked quietly, "Shall we go then?" and three of them vanished from the office in less than a second after flashing some hand seals.

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"Gai, what is the problem?" asked Sandaime once they reached the hospital and found Gai in one of the operating room with Neji standing beside him.

"Hokage-sama, we found a Grass kunoichi, most probably a chuunin at the border of Fire Country today morning during patrol duty. She was not dead yet when we found her but she couldn't make it to the hospital," Gai explanation in a total serious tone without the aid of sparkles was enough to get the full attention from everyone that just arrived, namely Sandaime, Ibiki and Kakashi.

A look at the Grass ninja was enough for the elites to tell that she did not die from physical injuries as there were no severe cuts or bleedings that could be observed with their bare eyes.

"Her Eighth Gates were opened."

Frozen, all of the occupants in the room turned around to look at Neji, wide-eyed. Disliking the lack of reaction from the occupants of the room, Neji started to explain.

"I've scanned her chakra, it was totally drained. Not even the last bit remained. Three hundred sixty one chakra release points in her body were badly burnt as large amount of chakra surged through them in a very short time. Her Eighth Gates were forced opened due to chakra burst as well. Her body could not handle the exaggerate amount of chakra so she collapsed and something had absorbed all of her chakra. We could not trace any of her chakra trails when we found her."

"Is her condition the same as Iruka-sensei's?" Kakashi asked, his piercing stare directed at Neji.

"Yes, except hers was ten times worse. No one was there to stop her chakra flow," Neji answered while directing an equal intensity stare back to Kakashi.

"Is she an Umino?" Ibiki asked finally.

"We have asked the medics to check her DNA with Iruka-sensei's DNA. They are working on it and will give us the report as soon as the compatibility check is done," Gai said while looking at the Grass kunoichi, a hint of pity flashed passed his eyes.

"If she is an Umino, this means there is more than one pendant around. If she is not an Umino, this means we are in for a big time trouble," back to his slouched posture, Kakashi leaned against the wall and said with his off-handed tone, both of his hands in his pants pocket.

Right at that time, one of the medics entered the operating room carrying a file. She bowed to Sandaime, said her greetings and then passed the file to Gai.

"Here is the result of the test, Gai-san. I'll be leaving first," said the medic before she went out of the room.

Flipping the file opened, Gai read the result with his brows furrowed together and tiny sweat beads were sliding down his temples.

"So?" feeling impatient, Sandaime inquired.

"She is not an Umino, Hokage-sama."

"Damn."

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At the same time, on the other end of the hospital…

"Iruka-sensei, I believe you are doing well?" asked Hiashi while putting down a basket of fruits on the bedside table.

"H-Hiashi-san, what brings you here? I'm fine, thank you," not bothered to mask his surprise at the arrival of the Head of Hyuuga Clan, Iruka asked.

"I heard that you were injured so I came to visit," getting a chair from the corner of the room, Hiashi placed the chair at the side of Iruka's bed and sit down.

"T-thank you Hiashi-san but as you can see I'm doing really well," rubbing the scar across his nose, Iruka lowered his head while fidgeting uncomfortably at the presence of the Hyuuga.

"Iruka-sensei, you do understand I'm not a person who will criticize your teaching abilities right?" getting straight to the point, Hiashi asked.

"Y-yes, Hiashi-san."

"And you can understand if I ask anything about your teaching materials, it is because I think that it is a very serious matter right?"

Having a bad feeling, Iruka timidly nodded while trying his best to ignore the contents of his stomach which were currently doing acrobatics and all kinds of extreme exercises in his stomach.

"Alright. I do not wish to impose but can you please tell me why Konohamaru asked Hanabi whether he can fondle her boobs or not?"

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A/N: Ok, chapter 5 is up. Bingo for those who guessed Orochimaru! I'll be gone for a while, maybe like 10 days so I won't be updating anytime soon. I found some silly grammatical mistakes in last chapter after I updated and I'm sorry for that. A huge thank you to those who reviewed and as usual please review this chappie. ^^ Till next time.


	6. Chapter 6

Living in the Mist (Chapter 6)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

"Iruka, are you feeling okay? You face is really red," Sandaime asked Iruka when he entered Iruka's hospital room and saw a profusely blushing Iruka.

"Hokage-sama, what brings you here? I'm fine, the temperature in here is a little warm that's all," surprised, Iruka asked the Hokage, blushed even harder and silently promised himself that he will never let anyone know what Hiashi and he were discussing a while back then as long as he was alive. This piece of information was going to follow him into his grave.

"Ah, I still owe you an explanation if I'm not mistaken," Sandaime smiled at Iruka while motioning the other three ninjas to come in. That was however not a very smart move as Iruka started to fling whatever his hands could reach to the door's general direction or better else, to Kakashi's general direction.

"Hatake, You Get Out of My Room Right Now before I Castrate You and Feed Your Junk to Your Ninken," Iruka spat venomously while continue to fling whatever he could reach at Kakashi.

Side stepping every single object flung at him, Kakashi glared at Iruka and said with equal venom, "Umino, How Caring of You to Think about Feeding my Ninken but I Think They Are Not Too Fond of My Junk. And I would Love to Castrate Someone under The Name of Umino Iruka as That Said Person Tried to Burn My Precious First Edition Icha Icha!"

"That Said Person Won't Even Think about Touching That Filth if You Did Not Leave It in His Room and Let His Eight Years Old Kids Thought That Fondling Boobies is In Syllabus!" Iruka practically roared when he found out he ran out of hospital things to throw. Instead, he started to look for the familiar sharp pointy objects which were very common in a hidden ninja village.

"Mum, Then When Are You Planning to Teach Them? When They're Eighty Years Old? The Boobies will be All Sagged and Wrinkly by Then," lucky for Iruka and unlucky for Kakashi, Iruka found a kunai in his bedside table drawer and flung it at Kakashi with all his might.

"Oh My Eternal Rival, I Will Hereby Protect You From The Youthful and Temperamental Iruka Sensei And The Deadly Kunai!" boomed Gai while he made a series of complicated Taijutsu moves which were highlighted by sparkles and caught the kunai by the handle right before it hit the target who was currently exposing his Sharingan and reaching for his weapon pouch.

"Gai, did you just stop my kunai?" looking at Gai, Iruka said with his eerily calm voice and hating the lack of reaction from the now quivering Gai, he continued, "You either give the kunai back to me or you throw it at Kakashi. Don't. Miss."

Meekly, Gai presented the kunai to Iruka and the temperature in the room dropped icy cold as two ninjas held their poses preparing to strike while having a glaring contest at the same time. At the side of the room, Gai pulled a chair and joined the other two ninjas who were watching the show with great interest.

"I wonder when the Head Nurse will appear. They are making such a big fuss," Sandaime said to no one in particular while taking out his pipe but kept it back again as he suddenly remembered the hospital was a non smoking zone.

"When she is here, that two will be dead. I tried to recruit her into T&I Department but she always refuses me. She will be such a good interrogator," Ibiki sighed when he thought about yet another lost co-worker.

"Hatake."

"Umino."

"Wow, the name calling started. This is getting good," Sandaime said cheerfully as he watched the almost starting ninja battle.

And it started. Kunai was flying everywhere and Icha Icha was turned to a page with a very provocative drawing. Wait, Icha Icha? Yes, right in front of Iruka eyes, Kakashi held his book so close to Iruka's face that his nose was practically touching the boobs of the girl in the drawing.

"Take that, Umino!"

Stunned for a few good seconds, Iruka finally regained his composure at the sudden attack and wiped his now bleeding nose with the back of his hand. "Hatake," Iruka snarled while reaching for the book and thinking different ways to undo the protection jutsu so that he could boil it and make it into toilet papers.

Just when the battle was going to ensue, the Head Nurse who was at least two heads taller than Gai and even wider came in. Without second thought, she banged her enormous fist at Iruka's head while flinging a leg at Kakashi's crotch. Applause was heard from the three spectators at the side of the room when the hits connected with their targets without missing. The Head Nurse bowed slightly to Sandaime and sent some glares to the two brainless ninjas before she went out as silently as she came in.

"She is officially my idol," said Sandaime to Ibiki while clapping happily at the very exciting and worth watching ninja battle.

"She was and is and will always be my idol," Ibiki agreed steadily while clapping at the show as well.

Gai was too stunned for any sparkling comments as he too, clapped at the wonderful performance that was displayed right in front of his eyes not too long ago.

Kneeling on the floor and covering his crotch protectively with both of his hands was Kakashi. He was shivering as cold sweat glided down his temples. From the one quarter of his visible face, one could tell that he was in great pain. On the bed, Iruka was holding his head with both of his hands, his tears flowing uncontrollably as he cursed creatively when he felt the swell getting bigger and bigger under his palms. "Head Nurse is definitely not someone you messed with," Kakashi and Iruka thought after they received the very useful firsthand lesson.

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"Iruka, we need you to carry out the mission as soon as possible," Sandaime said when the two ninjas finally stopped looking so pained.

"Mission?" rubbing at the swell on his head, Iruka asked.

"Yes, the one that requires you to hunt down your clan. However, this will not be a solo mission anymore as you are too weak right now. Kakashi will go with you on this undercover mission while Gai will be your backup. We need you to find out as much as you can about the clan and the pendant," Sandaime explained while looking closely at Iruka's reaction. He was more than pleased when he saw Iruka's face turned into an expression of pure determination.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. I'll do it," Iruka said, looking at Sandaime with full determination. He wished he could get to know his clan under better circumstances but reality seemed to prohibit him to do so. Plus, he would do anything for the sake of his village. That was the way of a ninja after all.

"Iruka-sensei, I believe you know that the pendant is able to suck out your chakra once you touch the kanji in the middle of the pendant," Ibiki said in a matter of fact manner. Iruka nodded his confirmation.

"We had run a few tests on this pendant. Apparently it reacts to an Umino only. If someone who is not an Umino touched the kanji, which is crafted from a kind of stone that we can't identify yet, nothing will happen. However, we found a grass chuunin today morning at the border. She was dead due to chakra depletion. The symptoms that she showed were exactly the same as yours except hers were worse. We are suspecting that there are different kinds of stones which react to different chakra traits. This is only assumption so we need you to find out more about this pendant through the mission," Ibiki explained while looking at Iruka who seemed to be absorbing all the information steadily.

"But how am I going to get into the clan? Did they actually ask for me and the pendant?"

"Yes, I've sent them a letter telling that you will be joining them with the pendant. We said that we do not wish a war with Mist so we are willing to give you up as you are an academy teacher instead of an active ninja. That is our cover," Sandaime answered while thinking how impressive Iruka's reasoning skill was.

"When are they expecting my arrival?"

"I told them you will be departing in one week's time. I hope you can make it before that as things are getting complicated."

"How about my students?" once this question popped into his mind, Iruka frowned and asked.

"Shikamaru will be your substitute for the time being."

"But they will learn about how to observe clouds instead of some real lessons!" Iruka exclaimed but he mumbled gloomily soon afterwards, "at least it is better than learning how to fondle boobies."

Sandaime laughed wholeheartedly at Iruka's comment while Kakashi glowered darkly at Iruka. Iruka not wanting to lose the competition, scowled at Kakashi while pulling his best foul look. Gai who sensed the dropping temperature immediately boomed to prevent the battle of hospitalised ninja and perverted ninja round two.

"Oh Youthful Hokage-sama! What Should I Do During This Youthful Mission?"

"Gai, you will be staying at a small village outside the border of Mist. Kakashi will transfer the information they collected once a week to you. You are to interpret the information and send coded letter back to Konoha. Kakashi's Ninken should be the best for the information transfer," Sandaime said, catching the attention of all of the room's occupants again.

"Hatake, how about your disguise?" Ibiki asked when he thought about this matter.

"Maa, I came up with something already," Kakashi said confidently while smiling his cheerful one eyed smile.

"Oh, that is surprisingly efficient of you. I gave you three days and now you have already thought of something," Sandaime said in surprise when he heard Kakashi said that. He had thought about a plan for Kakashi as he knew the ninja was always late in doing everything. He never did expect Kakashi had actually done his part. "_Perhaps Konoha is going to snow today,"_ Sandaime mused.

"So Hatake, what is it?" Ibiki asked impatiently as he was surprised at Kakashi's efficiency as well.

"You see, there is a saying that said that the best disguise is when you don't disguise at all!" Kakashi said cheerfully, pretty sure that his twisted logic would be accepted by the equally twisted ninjas in the room.

Ibiki and Iruka looked at Kakashi disbelievingly as they could not understand his logic at all. Gai however was impressed as his so hip and modern speech started.

Sandaime took a deep calming breath and looked away from the wall so that he would not walk over and bang his head on it. "Kakashi, I give you thirty seconds to come up with something better. If you don't you will follow my order on what to do," Sandaime wanted to yell at Kakashi but decided against it when he thought about the welfare of his throat.

Scratching his head, Kakashi thought hard and suddenly another idea came to his mind.

"I could be Iruka's adopted grandpa! You see, I have this slightly greyish hair and droopy eyes, I will make a perfect old man. Or even better, a perfect perverted old man like Jiraiya!" rubbing his gloved hands together gleefully, Kakashi was mentally praising himself for coming up with something this brainy.

Gai again, was impressed as the oh my eternal rival speech started. Ibiki decided to block his ears whenever Kakashi spoke and Sandaime was counting to ten to prevent his outburst. Iruka however was not a patient person as he bellowed outright at Kakashi.

"Who on earth will adopt a perverted old man as their own grandpa? And who will adopt a grandpa? Are you a moron or what?" Iruka asked incredulously while shaking his head in total disbelief.

"As far as I know, people acknowledge me as a genius. You just need to think out of the box like I am," Kakashi answered merrily, ignoring Iruka's death glare.

"Kakashi, that's it. You are going to follow my plan."

"But I thought mine was good?" Kakashi asked, looking hurt as Sandaime rejected his brilliant suggestion.

"No, it was rubbish. Don't you dare to ouch at me," Sandaime warned when he saw the story telling kick-puppy look on Kakashi visible area of face.

"Don't pout either. You are a grown male for god sake," noticing the slight purse on the covered lips, Sandaime removed his eyesight from the lean form who was trying to be cute but not impressing anyone in the room. Pacing to the window with his hands on his back, Sandaime calmly informed his plan to the occupants in the room.

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"WHAT?" both Kakashi and Iruka yelled but immediately put their hands over their mouths when they thought about the scary Head Nurse.

"I thought I was clear. Ibiki, Gai, both of you did hear me right?" looking over at Ibiki who was currently having muscle cramp on his face as he was trying not to laugh, Sandaime smirked.

"Y-yes, I heard you Hokage-sama. Loud and clear," choking a little, Ibiki managed to answer without sounding like a giggling school girl.

"Oh Yes My Youthful Hokage-same, What a Wonderful and Brilliant Plan!" unable to contain his emotion any longer, Gai ran over to Sandaime and gave him a hug, unbothered by the choking sounds he heard from Sandaime.

"B-but…" unable to form any sentence, Iruka looked frantically from Ibiki to Gai and Sandaime then to Kakashi, scowling at him before turning back to Gai and Sandaime again.

"Hokage-sama, you got to be kidding me. I, on behalf of a pervert's pride, will not do this," Kakashi said, emphasizing his point with extra slow pronunciations.

Finally freed from Gai's death grip, Sandaime straightened his robe while looking at Kakashi, "Are you the Hokage or am I?"

"B-but this is unacceptable!" Iruka was on the verge of tears with his wide watery brown eyes looking utterly shocked. Ibiki, Gai and even Kakashi looked at Iruka and a pang of guilt immediately filled their hearts when they saw the ultimate kick-puppy look.

"Why? If you can think of a better cover, I'll gladly accept your suggestion," Sandaime smirked at Iruka, knowing the watery eyes were a trick Iruka mastered when he was young. He fell into that cheap trick more times than he could count but he now had the immunity for this particular attack.

"Hokage-samaaaaaaa," realising his watery eyes would not work on Sandaime, Iruka resorted to whining while pulling at the sleeve of Sandaime's robe slightly, batting his way too long eyelashes trying to look as cute as possible. That certainly worked for the other three ninjas in the room as they had to restrain themselves from walking over and cooing at Iruka while offering him a candy. Sandaime as the Hokage was different of course.

"Iruka, I have immunity to all your attacks so you can quit it already."

Pouting, Iruka released the sleeve of Hokage's robe, looked away from Sandaime with a hmph and dropped his kick-puppy look. The other three ninjas were immediately released from the spell as they started to make a chaos again, at least Kakashi and Gai were.

"Hokage-sama, I am straight! I love boobs!" yelled Kakashi in exasperation when he could not think of anything else to argue with Sandaime.

"I know and I love them too. That is why I said PRETEND to be a couple," Sandaime continued to smirk at the look on both Kakashi's and Iruka's face. When Sandaime did not receive any reaction besides the youthful speech of Gai and the muscle cramp look on Ibiki's face, he spoke in a tone which showed his full authority.

"Hatake Kakashi and Umino Iruka, both of you are to infiltrate the Umino Clan of Mist to get information on the clan and the pendant with the cover as gay couple. All of you, dismissed."

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A/N: Err, I updated. Guess I was so tired of studying and I decided to write instead. This chappie does not expand the plot any further, only explaining the mission and some boring stuffs. I tried to make it funny though. If it isn't, I'm sowiiee ='( Still I hope you guys will enjoy this. Thanks to those who reviewed =) and please review for this chappie as well, help me to lighten up my gloomy mood =x


	7. Chapter 7

Living in the Mist (Chapter 7)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

"Iruka-kun," Sandaime called gently at the now sulking chuunin after he sent the other three ninjas out. When Iruka put his hands over his ears and closed his eyes, Sandaime laughed and ruffled Iruka's hair slightly. As expected, Iruka turned to glare daggers at him and this made him laughed even harder.

"You never change, do you?" Sandaime said with a laugh when he thought that the Iruka he saw right now resembled the naughty prankster he knew years ago so much. Getting no reaction from the still sulking chuunin, Sandaime sat at the edge of the bed and looked out of the window, staring at the almost dark sky.

"I'm very sorry, Iruka."

This one sentence was said with such intensity that it caught Iruka off guard as Iruka was now openly staring at Sandaime with a total confused expression on his handsome yet a tad bit of childish face.

"I'm sorry for not telling you anything during all these years. I didn't want people to look at you any less just because your parents were from Mist. I didn't want to make your life harder than it was already," Sandaime explained while fixing his stare at the not so interesting sky, not wanting to meet Iruka's questioning gaze. However, of all the reactions he expected, this was certainly none of them.

Sitting on the bed with a big swell on his head, Iruka was laughing with his bell-like exuberant laugh. His cheeks were tinted pink and his wide grin showed his perfectly white teeth while he laughed wholeheartedly, making the bell-like laughter reverberated in the whole room. When he finally noticed the look from Sandaime, he stopped his laughing for a little and decided to spare Sandaime from the confusion.

"My apologies, Hokage-sama. I thought you were sorry for matching me up with Kakashi so I gave you a gold fish look. But you were actually apologizing for my parents' issue. Hmm, I thought you already knew that I figured out the reason," Iruka explained while looking at Sandaime with a small smile tugged on his lips, "you are the closest person to me after my parents and I wasn't cool headed enough to think back then but I had it all figured out during my stay here. So, there is no need for you to apologize, Hokage-sama."

Looking at the sincere smile on Iruka's face, Sandaime knew that Iruka truly understood the reason behind and he never felt so relieved for once.

"You saved me a lot of troubles for explanations, Iruka-kun," looking fondly at the prankster that had grown to be a fine ninja, Sandaime said with pride and returned an equally sincere smile to Iruka. However, the sudden change of expression on Iruka's face made Sandaime's blood ran cold.

"Don't think that I'll spare you from the mission's revenge, Ho-ka-ge-sa-ma," Iruka grinned evilly at Sandaime, punctuating Sandaime's title one syllable by another using his fake sweet voice that underlined troubles. This effectively ruined the touching moments between the two ninjas. Thinking about all the things he could do to the Hokage for his revenge was enough to make Iruka's prankster's blood boil in anticipation.

"It's getting late so I t-think I should go now. R-rest more, Iruka," with as much pride as he could muster, Sandaime walked out of the room pretending that he was not ghastly pale and slightly shivering. Iruka's revenges were horrible and he unfortunately knew this from so many firsthand experiences over the years. And now with Iruka directly threatening him, he really should start to enforce all the traps at his house, be extra cautious for the time being or perhaps he should just get the Head Nurse to be his personal bodyguard. With these thoughts set, Sandaime hurried out of the hospital to prepare his defence against the on-coming attack.

Iruka was left alone in the hospital room again after the traumatised Sandaime left. His evil grin never ceased as he started to plan his revenge and suddenly, Iruka remembered about certain ninja he wished to castrate not too long ago. His grin got wider and he was actually laughing maniacally at the thought of the perverted ninja.

"_My baby Kakashi, let's have some fun. Shall we?" _

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After Sandaime dismissed them from the hospital room, Kakashi was hopping on the rooftop along side with Gai and Ibiki while brooding on his latest mission.

"What was that old man thinking? Setting me and that Umino up like this," Kakashi mumbled gloomily while turning another page on his book.

"Oh My Eternal Rival! You Should Embrace Your Youth and Find Yourself a Worthy Person For Yourself Before Your Youth Come to An End and You Would Not Be Able to Find Any Youthful Love Anymore!" Gai boomed and pointed his forefinger towards the darkening sky while hopping above a dark alley. His sparkles trailed behind him and made a dazzling pathway in the dark. His green spandex looked shinier with the aid of sparkles and this made Ibiki turned his face away and mumbled under his breath about something like he would drop off on next alley.

"Gai, you should worry about yourself more in this case," Kakashi said nonchalantly and Gai was stunned for a few second before he knelt on one of the roof bawling.

"You Struck Me Right On My Heart My Eternal Rival! I Tried to Spread My Youthful Love to All The Youthful Ladies In Konoha but They Rejected My Youthful Proposal!" Gai bawled loudly on the roof while Kakashi and Ibiki just ignored him and continue to hop on. A very loud cursing with the words shut up, crazy and fucking jounin followed by a loud crash was heard later after they left Gai alone.

"Hatake, I'm dropping off here," Ibiki nodded to Kakashi before he hopped down to the alley swiftly and silently.

"Tell Anko that too much of kinky sex will take a toll on her body!" Kakashi waited until Ibiki walked out of the dark alley before he yelled.

"Hatake, Shut. Your. Fucking. Mouth!" Ibiki yelled back at him with rage and Kakashi chuckled at the man's reaction. _"Ah Youthful Love…"_ Kakashi mused to himself before he realised the mistake that he sounded exactly like Gai.

"Kakashi! Wanna join us for a threesome tonight? We have whips and whipped cream!" Anko who was in her apartment opened her window and yelled to the rooftop on top of her lungs to make sure Kakashi heard her.

"Anko!" Ibiki looked at his girlfriend unbelievably but it seemed that Anko's gaze was focused on Kakashi's ass.

"Sorry Anko, I'm busy tonight. Next time, perhaps? I will bring my personal collection over!" Kakashi yelled back enthusiastically although he never had the intention to join them. He was not so dumb to go directly against the torture specialist. However, he did enjoy looking at a horny Anko and a riled up Ibiki and their hot steamy sex later. _"I wonder if Ibiki had upgraded Anko's apartment sound isolating system. They are so damn loud."_

"Alright Kakashi, we welcome…"

"IF YOU FUCKING NINJAS DON'T FUCKING SHUT UP RIGHT NOW, I SWEAR I WILL FUCKING SEND INFORMATION ABOUT KONOHA TO FUCKING SOUND AND CALL THEM TO FUCKING KILL YOU ALL!"

"Whoa so many fucking… Civilians nowadays sure are violent huh?" Kakashi mumbled to himself and waved to Anko with his trademark two fingers wave before he continued to hop back to his apartment. He tried hard to ignore Anko flying kisses but it was nearly impossible with all the wet slurping kissing sounds that Anko made.

"Fucking Hatake and his fucking attitude," Ibiki stared at the empty space where Kakashi was standing before and pointed a foul finger at it.

"Ibiki baby come up now, I'm hornyyyyyy," Anko whined loudly and someone actually threw a brick at her window as a loud crash and a string of curses was heard.

Ibiki shook his head at the absurdity of the whole situation and decided that it was his job to make sure that Anko would stop whining and people would stop throwing bricks at his girlfriend's apartment.

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Kakashi was on his way back to his apartment after his little chat with Anko when he first noticed the very faint smell of blood with his oversensitive nose. He stood high up on top of one of the apartment buildings, pulled down his mask and sniffed again. _"Definitely blood, although it's quite far away. I wouldn't be able to smell it if the wind wasn't blowing in this direction. "_

"Kuchiyose-no-jutsu," Kakashi nicked his thumb, made same hand seals and summoned one of his Ninken, Pakkun to help assessing the situation.

"What's up, brat? Hmm, blood," Pakkun sniffed a few times with his nose held high before turning to look at Kakashi, "fresh."

Kakashi did not make any comment on that as he was looking at the direction of the Forest of Death where the smell came from with a serious look on his face.

"Your nose is getting better brat, the smell is really faint. Someone must be doing some killing right now," Pakkun looked at Kakashi approvingly before he continued to sniff the air.

"Corpse."

Pakkun was not too sure what to make of this single word but he understood it immediately with another sniff of the air.

"Yeah, I can smell that too. Smell of corpses mingled with fresh blood. Someone is being killed right now and someone is already dead," Pakkun deduced while scratching at his nose with his paw.

"Pakkun, go and inform the Hokage about this. I'm going to the forest now," Kakashi delivered his order to Pakkun and before Pakkun could object, he rushed towards the forest with his full speed.

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"Kakashi what?!" the Hokage yelled when he heard the brief situation from Pakkun.

"You know that brat. He is always like that," Pakkun huffed as he agreed strongly with Sandaime that Kakashi always get himself injured by doing this kind of things.

"Drake!"

"Orders, Hokage-sama," the ANBU operative came in swiftly after he was being called.

"Get Gai and Asuma to follow Pakkun as Kakashi's backups. Now!"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

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"No! I don't have it! Don't kill me please! No!" Kakashi looked at the sobbing and bleeding woman knelt on floor with a ninja placing a huge sword on her neck and slowly slicing the tender skin of her throat. Beside her were a few corpses which were heavily mutilated and their blood easily soaked the ground around them. More people who were held immobile and injured were placed at another corner of the area. There was a sound isolation jutsu being set up at the area so he was lip reading instead of listening to the sound. As much as he would like to save the woman, the missing ninjas at that place outnumbered him easily.

"_Missing nin of Sound, six of them, four I have seen in the bingo book while another two unidentified. Four jounin level nin and two unknown, I couldn't fight them like this," _masking his chakra, Kakashi silently thought to himself. The look of agony of that woman and the frightened look on others stabbed dagger right into Kakashi. He wished he could save them but he would not risk anything, not like this.

"Don't fuck with us, woman! We know your family have one of the pendants," the ninja holding the sword yanked the woman hair roughly and his sword cut deeper into her throat. She wailed.

"_Wait, pendant?" _

"No, we don't have it! Spare our family! We don't know what are you all talking about!" an old man who was tied up and placed at the corner said with tears flowing uncontrollably when he saw the ninja made deeper cuts to the woman. However, that was not a smart move as another ninja flung his huge sword at him and decapitated him in one swift move. The hostages were shocked to silence and the woman screamed before she too was beheaded by her captor. The two ninjas who just made their kill were now laughing openly as they licked away the blood on their swords.

"Now, who's next?"

Kakashi felt his blood boiled.

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"Situation, Pakkun," throwing his cigarette butt to the damp forest floor, Asuma asked.

"Brat smelt blood from Forest of Death and went there alone. Hokage ordered you and Gai as his backups," Pakkun explained as he leaps in the forest with other two ninjas trailing behind him closely.

"That airhead. How long till we get to him?" Asuma questioned. He was totally frustrated at Kakashi's impulsive nature when it came to battle or any mission related stuffs. That was one of the reasons Kakashi spent more time in hospital than any other jounin.

"Soon. The smell of blood is getting much stronger. It is weird that I cannot hear any sound. Most probably a sound barrier is set," Pakkun answered.

"Keep going then," Gai who was silent up until now, uttered that three words as he sped up his speed again. He would not let his Eternal Rival ended up in hospital again before they started their mission.

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Silently, Kakashi took out one of his poisoned senbon and flung it at the ninja standing closest to him, who happened to be the one who killed the woman, aiming for his throat. As expected, before the senbon could reach the target, the sword wielder used his huge sword to deflect the senbon at the same time flung a few kunai at Kakashi's hiding place.

"Maa, is that how you greet your visitor?" Kakashi jumped down from his hiding place to the open area and stood in the middle with his slouching pose. His hitai-ate were adjusted and his red Sharingan was spinning slowly. One could easily sense the anger radiated from him as his chakra was spiking wildly despite his laid back look.

"Look what we have got here. Sharingan Kakashi. We could earn big bucks if we get this guy," the ninja who killed the old man just now was grinning and Kakashi found himself hating his yellow and jagged teeth.

"Did you brush your teeth before you sleep? They're yellow," Kakashi frowned at him and he smiled under his mask when he heard a thud from his side, signalling the one who blocked his senbon just now had already fallen.

"What the fuck did you do to him?!" the jagged teeth ninja yelled as he held his sword and prepared to strike. The other four ninjas were silent as they too brought out their weapons and crouched slightly, completely surrounding Kakashi.

"I poisoned him."

"Your senbon didn't even hit him! You motherfucker!"

"There is another senbon hidden inside the one I threw. When he blocked it, the senbon that was planted inside will pierce through the sword right into his throat. However, it is so tiny that you won't even felt the pierce. You will just die from the poison," Kakashi explained merrily while swinging his kunai in circles with his right hand and stuck his left hand in his pants pocket.

"Don't fuck with me! Senbon pierces through sword? Wait for another ten fucking years before you could fucking do that!" with that said, the sword wielder charged at Kakashi.

"Perhaps Sound need to wait for another ten years, but Konoha already has the best senbon master," Kakashi said, this time in a tone of pride as he blocked the attack with his glove plates which resulted in a loud clang. Both of the ninjas jumped back a few steps before the sword wielder spat an order to his teammates.

"Kill him!"

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"Shit, did you hear that?" Asuma looked at Gai after the loud clang.

"Yeah, Kakashi is getting himself into troubles," Gai sighed as he sped up again, making Asuma and Pakkun had to use more chakra to keep up with his inhumane speed.

"We must get to him. Fast."

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A/N: Okay, I'm doomed. So much for studying for finals - -''' anyway HHHUUUGGGEEEEE thanks to those who reviewed last chappie! You guys made me felt better so thank you thank you thank you! I bring you a fighting scene this time. I have zero experience in writing this so forgive me if you find it weird. Review for me please =3


	8. Chapter 8

Living in the Mist (Chapter 8)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

"_Have to get them away from the hostages before I start fighting," _Kakashi thought to himself as he dodged another barrage of kunai and shuriken charged at him. He hopped among the trees in a zigzag manner and tried to distract his enemies by throwing a kunai attached with an exploding tag to their direction. The area was suddenly lit up with the white blinding light of the explosion and a loud bang was heard when the tag went off sending a few trees at the area flying to the air.

"_Pakkun will bring reinforcements with him. The clone I left with the hostages should be able to tell them the situation. I just have to hold on until then," _satisfied with the result of the exploding tag, Kakashi whipped out his kunai and flung them at the enemies again just to slow them down before continue to hop even further into the forest.

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"Shit, that brainless pervert," Asuma cursed under his breath when he heard the loud explosion.

"We are near. I could sense the enemies' chakra. Five of them," Pakkun said when he felt the sudden spike of unrecognisable chakra when the tag went off. He knew that Kakashi was the one to throw it as he felt Kakashi's chakra spiked just a millisecond before the explosion, signalling that he was the one who activated it. Therefore the unknown chakra must be the enemies' chakra.

"One against five? That bastard needs to attend the academy again so that he could actually learn not to strike when you are heavily outnumbered!" feeling utterly pissed off at Kakashi's action, Asuma started to curse.

"Make that one against six," Gai said, suddenly stopping on top of a branch when he saw the corpse of the missing ninja that Kakashi killed just now. The whole area was horrible to witness as mutilated corpses were littered carelessly making the ground bloody. There were hostages who were tied up under a tree and they were so frightened that they could not even make any noise when they saw Gai's arrival.

"Yo," Kakashi's clone was crouching on another tree branch and he gave Gai a two fingers salute when Gai finished assessing the surroundings.

"Hatake!" Asuma yelled in annoyance when he saw that Kakashi's clone was reading Icha Icha in this crucial situation. He could not help to be irritated even though he knew that was only a clone.

"There were six missing nin but only four can be identified in the bingo book. He killed one of them and currently fighting with the other five. These people were the hostages and he left me here to guard them," Kakashi's clone explained the situation to the newly arrived ninja.

"I'll go after him," Gai told Pakkun and Asuma once the clone finished talking. He then jumped on a branch and continued to race to Kakashi.

"Bunshin no jutsu," a slight poof was heard when Asuma flashed a few hand signs and made a clone of himself.

"Pakkun, I'll leave my clone here with you. I'll be going after Gai," nodding slightly at Pakkun, Asuma jumped on a tree branch and followed Gai's trail in the forest at his full speed.

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"Suiton, Daibakufu no Jutsu!"

Hearing the tale telling sound of rumbling water which was spiralling towards his direction, Kakashi immediately jumped up to a tree to dodge the water jutsu attack casted by Amaya, one of the missing kunoichi in the bingo book who had strong affinity towards the water element. However, the attacks did not stop there as the sword wielder swung his sword at the tree that Kakashi was crouching on, effectively cutting it and forced Kakashi into the angry water below.

Years of training saved Kakashi from falling face down to the raging stream of water below him as he focused his chakra on his feet and once his feet touched the water, he released his chakra in a burst causing him to hop up instead. The punch that connected with his jaw once he reached mid air caused Kakashi to cough a few times before falling back down and vanished in a swirl of smoke right before he reached the water.

"Shit, a clone! Where is that shithead?" roared Dai, a massive guy who was at least seven foot tall and was famous for his lethal Taijutsu skills. He was downright pissed when he realised that he was tricked by a simple cloning jutsu and now he was roaring profanities trying to provoke Kakashi to fight him face to face.

"_As if I will fight you like this," _Kakashi silently mused to himself at his hiding place as he swiftly threaded his chakra into tiny strings that were almost invisible under the sunlight and bind them to a few kunai. It had been his clone all the time when he dodged the water attack and the sword. He would be able to analyse part of the enemies' fighting abilities when the clone was dispersed. That was why he created a clone at a very first place while he hid behind a huge tree observing the fight.

When his preparation on the chakra strings was done, Kakashi jumped out from his hiding place without warning and threw a kunai at Dai. Unfortunately, he missed and the kunai embedded itself in one of the tree trunks. This immediately caught the attention of his enemies as Amaya launched another spiral of water attack at him while the others sent their weapons flying to Kakashi.

Dodging the water jutsu and deflecting the barrage of weapons with his glove plates and the kunai on his right hand, Kakashi threw more kunai at Dai but none of them hit home.

"What great aim, Sharingan Kakashi! Are you getting old?" bellowed Dai while he laughed openly at Kakashi's zero hit rate. Dai was totally amused by Kakashi as he did not expect this kind of attacks from the fearsome Copy Ninja. The attacks were preventing him from actually attacking the Copy Ninja but they could not even reach him, much less than actually put a cut on him. It seemed that people actually overestimated that silver haired ninja or the rumours about him were simply exaggerated.

"Maa, can't you tell from my hair colour?" Kakashi smirked at Dai and commented sarcastically on his own hair colour at the same time throwing another kunai at Dai just to miss the target again.

"With this kind of accuracy, I wonder how long more can you live, Sharingan Kakashi?" Dai roared as he once again laughed at the missed attack.

"Longer than you at the very least," with that said, Kakashi pulled hard on the chakra strings attached to all the missed kunai with his right hand. The chakra strings instantly stretched from the kunai and effectively trapped Dai in an unbreakable chakra bond. The kunai embedded in tree trunks served as the base to hold the chakra strings in place and despite the random throwing just now, those weapons actually resembled a pattern right now.

"What the fuck are you doing?" roared Dai when he failed to move out of a sudden and he swore that he would do anything to wipe out that barely visible smirk on the masked face.

"Killing you," Kakashi answered while focusing his chakra on his left hand and a screeching sound could be heard as bright white chakra accumulated on his left palm. Without second warning, Kakashi charged at Dai and slammed his palm on the face of the immobile ninja. Blood splattered everywhere once he decapitated the missing ninja but he could care less as Amaya now charged at him, screaming. The others who were shocked by the sudden attack and the fall of another comrade finally recovered from their stupor as they too started their attacks.

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"Chidori."

"If he is dead, I'm so going to revive him and torture him and castrate him before I kill him myself," Asuma huffed when he heard the familiar screeching sounds of the chidori.

"We just have to get to him before he is dead," Gai said with his dead serious tone and Asuma nodded at him as both of them raced to Kakashi.

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Kakashi caught the wrist of Amaya and flung her to a tree as she tried to slash him with her dagger. He did not bother to kill her as his Sharingan steadily showed him that the Amaya was indeed a clone. The real one must be hiding somewhere preparing for another water jutsu attack and as expected, a female voice rang out.

"Suiton, Suiryuudan no Jutsu!"

Kakashi leaped high up to the sky as he dodged the deadly water dragon attack which wiped out almost everything in its path. However, he was too late to change his direction when he realised that Iwao, another Taijutsu master was leaping towards him with his outstretched fist aiming for Kakashi's gut. The hit connected and Kakashi grunted when the sharp pain shot through his whole body. As if that was not enough, the sword wielder swung his sword at the now falling Kakashi, trying to cut him in half. With all the strength he could muster, Kakashi held his chakra infused arms in front of himself, blocking the powerful attack.

The blow was somehow blocked but the effects of the hit were still there as Kakashi's arms now suffered from deep gashes and cuts. When the impact of the hit receded, instead of releasing the sword, Kakashi held onto it, loosen the bandages on his wrists and said quietly under his breath, "Omote Renge!" before he kicked hard at the sword user and sent him flying skyward. Focusing chakra on his palm and using the huge sword as his leverage, Kakashi spun himself on top of his enemy, placing his chest against the others back while wrapping his arms and the loose bandages around the sword user tightly to prevent him from escaping.

This definitely shocked the sword wielder as he started to struggle while cursing at Kakashi. His teammates could only look at the fight in shock as any wrong moves would end up injuring their ally instead of the Copy Ninja. Concentrating on his Taijutsu, Kakashi spun both of them in a very high speed as they fell back to the ground. Right before they reached the ground, Kakashi released his bandages and arms while flopping to his feet after he drove the sword user's head first into the ground. A loud crack signalling the fracture of neck vibrated clearly in the now silence clearing. The three missing ninjas instantly knew that they lost another teammate. No one could ever survive that kind of impact to the neck.

"_Three down, three to go. My chakra reserve is getting low and I HATE to kill kunoichi, especially the pretty ones," _Kakashi thought silently as he now crouched on the ground with his senses stretched to the maximum level. They were back to square one again with Kakashi being completely surrounded while the enemies preparing to strike anytime.

"Suiton, Suikoudan no Jutsu!" the silence between them did not last long as Amaya started her attack once again despite the huge chakra consumptions of her high ranking jutsu.

"Suiton, Suijinheki!" Kakashi flashed through a series of hand seals just in time to block Amaya's attack with his water encampment wall. That was not sufficient as the jutsu broke through the wall and charged at Kakashi once again. Kakashi leap from side to side dodging the endless stream of water but he was forced to take a direct hit when Iwao swung a foot at his head causing him to lost balance and fell down.

The pain was too much to take. Kakashi was pretty sure that he broke a rib from that attack and he could not stand up immediately due to the immense pain. Seizing this chance, the unknown pretty kunoichi who had not made any major moves until now straddled Kakashi and pinned him down with an unbelievable strength. She applied extra pressure on his wounded arms and looked vaguely pleased when Kakashi hissed in pain.

"Hello, I'm Mika. I'm not really good in fighting you see but I was told that I'm really good with men and poison," the kunoichi who was still straddling Kakashi whispered seductively to him, "I promise you a painless death, Hatake Kakashi."

Kakashi's heart skipped a beat. First was because of the death threat while the second was simply because of the kunoichi was even prettier up close and she smelt really good. _"Wait, smell?"_ Kakashi's eyes widen and he immediately tried to stop his breathing but Mika sent a punch to his chest causing him to gasp in pain.

"Looks like you figured it out. Yep, the smell of my body itself is poisonous and only few people are immune to it. So, do me a favour and continue breathing will you?" Mika smiled sweetly at Kakashi with her full lips turned upward ever so slightly while she continued to straddle Kakashi.

"_Wow, she is really pretty when she smiles like that… Shit, the poison starts working already," _Kakashi thought randomly as his vision started to blur and his limbs officially boycotted him. His whole body felt like jelly and he doubted that he could move even if Mika was not holding him still.

"_I wanted to die in a pretty lady's arms, but not really like this," _Kakashi humoured himself by the random thoughts before a loud crash and a very familiar voice was heard from the side.

"Konoha Senpuu!"

"Shit, he has backups. Get out of here! Mika, Amaya, run!" Iwao barked to Amaya and Mika as he engaged in a fight that he knew he would lose. Both Gai and Asuma were charging at him in a fury of Taijutsu and Ninjutsu moves. They decided to let the two kunoichi go as they only need one person to be interrogated by Ibiki. Plus, the idiot genius had successfully gotten himself hurt again.

The flash of panic that crossed Mika's pretty eyes when she heard Iwao's order was not missed out by Kakashi. Swiftly, she jumped off from Kakashi and ran into the forest together with Amaya. Feeling all the energy was slowly drained from him, Kakashi let his eyes slipped close, deciding to take a short nap and choosing to ignore the two crazy people who were yelling profanities at him during their fight with Iwao.

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The Hokage felt pure rage when he saw the state of Kakashi when he was hauled to the hospital by Gai. He was not angry at the missing ninjas but he was downright pissed off by the idiot who went off by himself, again. The spandex clad jounin who sensed the anger of Sandaime immediately boomed loudly as he tried to cover up for Kakashi.

"Oh Youthful Hokage-sama, My Eternal Rival Did His Best Fighting Six Missing Ninjas and Took Out Three of Them So You Must Not Blame Him for His Condition!" Gai bawled with tears streaming down his cheeks uncontrollably. That was unusually effective as Sandaime's face slowly turned from red to green when he finally noticed the awkward position of Gai and Kakashi.

Gai, sitting on a chair waiting for the attention of medics had Kakashi draped over his lap. He was cradling Kakashi's fluffy head protectively close to his chest while his other hand was resting on Kakashi's delicate hips. His manly tears slowly soaked Kakashi's hair and the once fluffy hair was now weighted down by the unlimited tears released from Gai. Sandaime was having a huge problem with restraining his laughter.

"_A Hokage will not laugh when his ninja is half-dead, a Hokage will not laugh…" _silently doing a little bit of mental chanting, Sandaime finally managed to hold back his bubbling laughter.

"Hokage-sama, the captured missing ninja and the hostages were all sent to T&I Department. Ibiki will take over from there," Asuma came to the reception area, reported to Sandaime and he too saw the retina scarring image. Asuma tried hard not to laugh as he said to Sandaime, "now I understand the constipated look on your face."

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A/N: This chappie is horrible, uwaaa T.T took me forever to write and rewrite and still I am not happy with it. The names of the jutsu were googled. The meanings of names: Dai (big), Mika (beautiful fragrance), Amaya (night rain), Iwao (stone man). Thanks to those who reviewed and I'm really sorry about this chapter… I can't write fight scene at all. Anyway hope you guys still enjoy this and please drop me a review =D


	9. Chapter 9

Living in the Mist (Chapter 9)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

"How is he?" Sandaime looked up from the huge pile of paperwork, inhaled deeply from his pipe and asked the medic who just entered his office.

"Kakashi-san is fine. The poison acted fast but they got him to the hospital in time so we managed to remove the poison from his system. The broken rib and gashes were not big problems," the medic replied, giving Sandaime a rough account of Kakashi's condition while passing Kakashi's medical report to Sandaime.

"Stupid brat, he just has to get himself hurt every single time," Sandaime muttered darkly when he scanned through the report. The medic slowly retreated to the door as he sensed the unnerving dark aura emitting from the now pissed Hokage.

"Alright, thank you for your work. You're dismissed," decided to spare the medic from his wrath, Sandaime waved his hand slightly, signalling that the medic can leave.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," not wanting to stay in the office any longer, the medic turned around and left.

Rubbing at his temples, Sandaime sighed. Things were getting complicated and they still had not started the mission to Mist as problems rose one after another. He could only hope that Kakashi would heal fast enough not to delay the mission schedule. Sandaime was interrupted from his train of thoughts by the knocking on his office door that startled him out of his musings.

"Come in."

"Hokage-sama, these are the reports on the hostages and the missing ninja," Ibiki came in with Asuma on his side, his ever present cigarette not in place. Ibiki handed two files to the frowning Hokage once they were seated.

"Report."

"Hostages are civilians from Waterfall. The missing ninjas captured their whole family demanding for a pendant. They did not have it but the ninjas did not believe them. So they were brought to the forest for some threatening sessions and that was when Kakashi found them."

"How about the missing ninja?"

"He said a grey haired guy with round specs requested them to this mission. However, they had no idea who is the guy and what is the pendant. They took the job simply because of the pay. The order was to get the pendant from that civilian family. We are taking a wild guess that the grey haired guy might be Kabuto as the details matched him. If it is really him, Orochimaru most likely had started his moves but it seems that he had the wrong information in the first place."

"That's all?"

"Yes. He really did not know much. He spilled everything once we messed him up with Genjutsu about the girl in this picture," Ibiki passed a picture to Sandaime while he explained. He secretly anticipated for Sandaime's reaction on the picture as half of the male staffs in T&I gotten a nose bleed from the picture. As expected, a light blush dusted Sandaime's cheeks and a trail of blood started to trickle down his nose when he saw the beauty who dressed in nothing other than a thong in the picture. Asuma and Ibiki looked at each other knowingly and smirked. This would definitely be a good blackmail material in the future.

Fishing out his cigarette, Asuma said languidly, "That's Mika. She was the one who poisoned Kakashi. We suspected that she is Iwao's lover as he kept this photo with him. Beauty, isn't she?"

Receiving no response from the currently gaping and nose bleeding Sandaime, Ibiki snatched the picture back and gave Sandaime a disapproving look before he said, "You might want to wipe your nose, Hokage-sama and don't even think about it. This is the property of T&I Department. End of story."

Sandaime pouted but immediately changed his expression as he realised what he was doing. Coughing embarrassedly while wiping his nose, Sandaime said sheepishly, "Good work on the interrogations. Send the hostages back to their country and you know how to deal with the missing ninja. I expect to read Kakashi's mission report once he is awake enough to write one. You're dismissed."

With that, the two ninjas walked out of the office and right before Asuma closed the door, he turned to Sandaime and winked, "I kept you a copy, no worries."

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Iruka was drifting between awake and sleep when he barely noticed that someone else was admitted to the same room as him. The sound of the nurses and medics who were rushing in and out with their hurried footsteps served as his lullaby. He was too tired to find out who was it and he decided it did not really matter. So he shut his mind to continue his beauty sleep and this made him missed out the sentence spoken just about few minutes later.

"Okay, everything's done. Make sure Kakashi-san doesn't try to escape when he wakes up. He did that every single time."

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"_Hurts… Everywhere hurts…" _Kakashi regained his consciousness not too long ago but he was hurting everywhere and that made him lacked the motivation to actually move and ask for water. He was sure that he was in a hospital again as the familiar smell of antiseptics attacked his masked nostrils. He would have groaned if he did not hurt this much.

"_Stupid medics must have done this on purpose. Giving me low dose of sedatives and make me suffer,"_ Kakashi accused the medics mentally but he knew better than anyone that the medics were actually considering for his health. He had taken far too much sedative than one should in his or her whole life.

"_Urgh, need water badly… my throat feels like a freaking desert…" _ Kakashi groaned inwardly and silently making the decision that he should ask someone for water. With that aim set, Kakashi motivated himself to open his cracked lips and said water. The word or rather the sound that came out from his dry throat sounded nothing like water. He was surprised at his own voice as well but be damned if he gave up before someone gets him some water.

"Uhh…trr..." disappointed at his numerous attempts, Kakashi took a deep breath and swallowed his limited saliva to soothe his throat before he tried to croak again.

"_I thought I heard a frog… Must be my hallucination," _Iruka mused silently to himself with his eyes closed, basking in the perfect feeling of waking up naturally which was really rare for a ninja.

"Uhh…trrrr…"

"_There! That frog again! I thought I'm on the third floor. The frog must be real cool to jump this high. Oh, the stairs," _Iruka thought randomly while he chose not to find out the source of the sound. He was too busy hiding in the warmth of his blanket and he could just pretend that he was in a tropical island, enjoying the sound of waves and frogs at night. Although he had too much light and none of the waves right now, it was good enough with just a frog so he was not going to complain any time soon.

"Uhh…trrrrrrr…"

"_Damn frog! Croak nicer! Don't croak like someone steps on you!" _when Iruka realised that his tropical island imagination would not work with this kind of horrible croaking, he opened his eyes and regretted it immediately as the offensive light blinded his vision for a few seconds.

"My eyes, arrghh! I'm blind!" Iruka cursed and covered his eyes instantly with his palm waiting for the initial pain to recede while he stretched his back like a cat and popped a few joints.

"_Yes, human! Even though you are blind but I will still love you if you get me water!" _Kakashi did a mental happy dance when he heard the voice right beside him, gruff from sleep, cursed the light and said something about being blind. Kakashi knew that if he wanted water, this would be his only chance so with all the strength he could gather, Kakashi parted his lips and made an extra loud demand for water which unfortunately still sounded like a croak.

"_Stupid frog! Now you sound like constipated frog,"_ irritated by the frog, Iruka decided that he would throw the frog out from his window once he found it. Slipping into his hospital slippers and pulled gently on the curtain separating his bed, Iruka started to look for the source of that croaking.

"_Yes, yes, yes! Water now please, I promise I'll love you," _hearing the sound of the curtain being pulled open, Kakashi prayed silently that the blind guy would be able to get him some water.

"_Behold my wrath, frog!" _Iruka thought when he started pulling on the curtain but he was more than surprise when he saw the legs under the blanket. He then remembered about the person who was admitted into the same room when he was half awake. _"Shit, this means that the frog is human. Wow, his larynx must be really fucked up for him to sound like that," _finally realised that there was no frog but only human in his room, Iruka opened the curtain swiftly and his eyes bugged out when he saw the said human-frog on the bed.

"H-Hatake?"

"Uhh… Trrrr…"

"Uhhtrr? Oh, water!" as if being hit by a brick right on top on his head, Iruka's eyes widen comically and he hurried to pour a cup of water for Kakashi. Even if they were not in a good term and he was still going to revenge on this pervert, a comrade was still a comrade and it would be far too unreasonable if he left Kakashi's throat to suffer like that.

"C'mon, sit up and drink," holding the cup of water, Iruka shook Kakashi's shoulder slightly, coaxing him to open his eye. Kakashi slowly cracked opened his single eye and immediately cursed at the light that blinded him. He then slowly sat up with the help of Iruka and leaned his back to the fluffy pillow. Feeling satisfied with the position he helped Kakashi in, Iruka passed the cup of water to Kakashi and politely turned his back to Kakashi. Smiling slightly at Iruka's obvious consideration, Kakashi downed the whole cup of water and thanked whoever god that created water.

Pulling up his mask, Kakashi set the empty cup on his bedside table and let out an audible sigh. "Thank you, Iruka-sensei." Kakashi's voice sounded a lot better, if not a little gruff from his usual voice.

Iruka blushed. This was the first time Kakashi ever called him that if the one written on his get well note was not counted. Somehow they would end up in surname calling every time they met so a sudden change in this was enough to make Iruka to blush a bright shade of red. Kakashi was wondering the lack of reaction from Iruka and he was going to call him again before he noticed the bright red neck.

"_Oh, he is shy. How cute," _having discovered this piece of interesting information, Kakashi tucked it at the back of his mind for further usage and decided to do some teasing right now.

"Iruka-sensei, are you listening to me?" Kakashi drawled Iruka's name in a seductive way, at least as seductive as he could be without sounding like a frog. He was delighted when he saw the blush spread to Iruka's ears.

"_That bastard… He knows and he freaking teases me for that! Just you wait, Hatake! So long for being nice to you," _ Iruka took a deep breath before he turned around to strangle Kakashi but a better idea came into his mind when he sensed the chakra of the nurse who checked on him every day. He looked at the clock and realised that it was his check up time. An evil gleam formed in Iruka's otherwise innocent brown eyes as he thought of a brilliant plan.

"I'm sorry Kakashi-sensei, I wasn't paying attention just now," with his evil mind set to work, Iruka turned around and gave Kakashi his most innocent smile while scratching his scar and continued to blush.

Kakashi's breath hitched. _"He is good, that blush is lethal… How on earth can a guy blush like that?" _

Noticing the slight hitch in Kakashi's breathing, Iruka openly smirked, contrasting with his innocent expression just now and Kakashi totally sweat dropped. Just right when the nurse came in, Iruka used his best watery eyes and hitching voice combination, "K-Kakashi sweetheart, h-how can you treat me like this w-when I love you so much..."

With that said, Iruka sniffled and hiccupped for extra effects. His plan worked exactly like he planned as the nurse flung her file directly at Kakashi.

"You! How dare you treat Iruka-sensei like that!" the nurse practically screamed in Kakashi's ears.

Kakashi who was wearing a what the fuck kind of expression right now immediately regained his composure after the file hit home and he looked at Iruka accusingly before he spat, "… the fuck, Umino?!"

Iruka who was standing behind the nurse smirked and mouthed a fuck you too, Hatake before he continued to say in his heart-wrenching voice, "I-I'm so s-sorry if I did a-anything that o-offended you… Just d-don't leave me… I-I'm sorry…"

Kakashi was lost. He had heard some rumours about that sensei being evil, but he did not expect this. The commotion in their room had gathered quite a big crowd and from the fact that all of them were glaring daggers at him, Kakashi concluded that Iruka must have his own fan club in Konoha.

"Enough. All of you get out. Let them sort their problems themselves," the voice of the Head Nurse rang somewhere out of the room and the crowd instantly fled as they knew better than to mess with the Head Nurse.

"Both of you, whatever problems you have, sort it out civilly. I don't want to hear any shouting, clear?" the Head Nurse stood at their doors and gave her order calmly. After receiving two confirmative nods from the occupants in the room, she closed the room door silently and left. The whispered shouting profanities contest immediately commenced.

"You little shit, Umino!"

"Fuck you, Hatake!" however, Iruka's expression slowly changed from rage to cheeky as he said cheerfully, "I will make sure you won't get laid before and during the whole mission, Hatake. Take that as punishment for teaching my kids how to fondle boobs!"

"Girls come at me, Umino! I can get whoever I want! And I didn't finish my sentence on the fondling boobies' definition."

"I'll assure you from this day onwards that these statements are not going to be plausible anymore," ignoring Kakashi's self-defend about the boobs, Iruka grinned at Kakashi evilly.

Kakashi was feeling pure rage now. _"How could he? That bastard, he knew my weakness. Not getting laid for so long, I'll be damned," _Kakashi thought in silence while scowling at Iruka. However, his expression changed ever so slightly when he sensed the chakra of Sandaime, Asuma, Ibiki and namely a huge bunch of people coming towards their direction. A wicked and perfect counter attack came to his mind at that very moment. He wanted to smirk so badly but he held back and continued to glare at Iruka without saying anything.

"_I'll wipe that smirk off your face, sensei. If you assure me a zero getting laid rate, I'll assure you a zero getting girlfriend rate."_

When he sensed the visitors had reached the door of their room, Kakashi instantly kicked off his blanket, spread his legs wide while grabbing Iruka's wrist and placed it right on his crotch in a speed of movements. A glimpse at Iruka and he knew that he would kill for that look plastered on Iruka's face right now.

"_Tsk, tsk… Don't think it's over, sensei."_

Right when the room door is opened, Kakashi arched his back, writhed for a bit, threw his head back and moaned lustfully, "S-sensei, n-not here… Ah… W-we're in the hos… Uh… hospital… Haa…"

Iruka's mind went blank. He stared dumbly at his hand that was currently located at somewhere it should not be and the loud crash made Iruka turned towards the direction of their room door. Iruka knew he was gaping but he could not help it as he paled.

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A/N: Ta-dah new chappie! I had so much fun writing the kakairu moments! Hope you guys will enjoy it like I do. ^^ Take this as a little break from the intense last chapter. I'm surprised of the comments on the fight scene because I'm really unhappy with it. You guys rock. TTwTT Thank you so much for those who reviewed and those who actually follow this story until here. The mission will commence next chapter! (I hope -.-) Okay, till next chappie. Review for me? =D


	10. Chapter 10

Living in the Mist (Chapter 10)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

"Iruka-channnn! You are so bold! Hospital groping session? Ibiki, I want that too!" Anko screeched, effectively breaking the silence that started after they saw Kakashi and Iruka in a very compromising position. She was the first to recover from the stunned state as the people around her were still trying their best to interpret the situation.

"Since when both of you are together?" Asuma was second to regain his composure and he asked sceptically once he recovered. He was sure that he never heard any rumour about this couple. They must be very discreet if nothing about them were known in a village full of gossiping ninjas.

"Oh Our Youthful Sensei Is Enjoying The Golden Time of His Youth! We Should Not Interrupt Their Youthful Act of Intercourse! We Must Stay Strong Even if Our Beloved Sensei is Corrupted by My Eternal Rival!" Gai bawled once he picked his jaw back up. He was too surprised to make any comment at the first look but now he had recovered enough to mourn for Iruka's gone innocence, namely by bawling his eyeballs out.

"Iruka-sensei, you surprised me," the ever stoic Ibiki decided to join the fun even though he knew perfectly that Iruka had nothing to do with this. He was not the Head of T&I Department for nothing. One look at Kakashi's face was enough for him to know whose ploy was it.

"Camera, camera! Someone get me a camera!" Genma who fell on the floor and hit his head on the door knob when he first entered the room finally stood back up with his shaky legs and leaned heavily on the wall. He could not believe that this piece of extra juicy gossip never reaches his ears and therefore he was going to amend this, right here, right now. It would be his responsibility to make sure that whole Konoha's population knew about this in two hours time.

"Iruka, are you sure you want to be with him? He is not uh… normal," Kurenai asked Iruka in a worried tone. Her blood red eyes narrowed in concentration as she looked at Iruka with a frown on her delicate features. She would not let Kakashi corrupts the lovable and innocent sensei.

"Iruka, Iruka! Is he big?" Anko, who had fully entered her crazy fan girl mode, rubbed her hands together gleefully as she asked Iruka about the question she was dying to know for years.

Iruka was not too sure about what was happening around him. He knew people were talking to him but his mind was so blank that he could not interpret any of the bombarded questions. He knew he was still gaping as his mouth felt dry but he could not make his jaw to cooperate with him either.

"Iruka-sensei, as much as I want to continue this, I will prefer to do it without any audience," Kakashi tilted his head, looked and Iruka innocently and put on his cheerful one-eyed smile. His hand was no longer holding Iruka's wrist but it seemed that Iruka was still too stunned to move his hand away.

"Seems that you both had gotten along quite well," Sandaime who was silent all the time decided to join the chaos so he added his very mild comment. He was quite sure that Iruka would not hear what he said right now. However, he was not in the best of luck as Iruka stunned out of his stupor right when he said that. A hint of red slowly crept up Iruka's neck to his ghastly pale face as he slowly registered everything that happened. He slowly removed his hand from the not too comfortable location as he spoke in his best sweet voice.

"Kakashi baby?"

"Yes, Iruka honey?"

Once Kakashi answered, Iruka curled his fingers into a fist and slammed his hand back down, hard. Kakashi immediately doubled over in pain as he grunted unintelligently. All the occupants in the room were shocked into silence once again. The only noise that could be heard in the room was Kakashi's pained groans as he curled into a ball on his bed.

"Don't worry. We are into a bit of pain that's all. Am I right, baby?" Iruka faced Kakashi with a sweet smile on his face, his hand rubbing slow circles on Kakashi's arm as he mentally noted that he would wash his hands twenty times today.

"Y-yes, honey," Kakashi gritted through his teeth with all his strength, his hands never left his abused body part as he slowly straightened his back.

"Well then, I believe all of you are here to visit us. Right?"

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Few days later in the Hokage office…

"Kakashi, Iruka, I believe both of you have recovered enough to go on the mission?" Sandaime asked the two ninjas seated in front of him. Both of them were checked out of the hospital a day before. They had healed enough and they caused too much troubles staying in the same room so the Head Nurse actually kicked them out. Right now, they were officially known as a couple in Konoha and that actually worked quite well with their mission plan.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Kakashi and Iruka answered simultaneously and this immediately triggered another glaring competition. However, both of them were professional enough to drop it as they turned their attention back to Sandaime.

"Kakashi, you know the route to hidden Mist right?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Iruka, you will follow Kakashi's direction as you have never been to Mist before. I will put a seal on Kakashi to cut off his chakra during this mission."

"B-but why?" Iruka asked worriedly. Kakashi was an active ninja and the bounty on his head was enough for him to make a lot of enemies, not to mention the enemies he gained during his missions. Sealing off his chakra on a mission was definitely suicidal for him.

"Don't worry, Iruka. The seal can be broken instantly by taking this pill," pulling out a packet of pills from his robe, Sandaime passed it to Kakashi and continued his explanation. "I need to seal his chakra to prevent the enemies from realising that he is a ninja. You do remember he is Kakashi, your civilian boyfriend right?"

Iruka nodded, clearly annoyed at the smug expression on Sandaime's face. He was too busy having couple fights with Kakashi during the last few days until he forgot that he actually wanted to pull pranks on Sandaime. It seemed that he would not have the chance for now since he had to go on this mission soon.

"Kakashi, once I seal your chakra, don't simply break the seal. We have to convince them that you really are a civilian. If the situation deems for your skills, you are allowed to take the pill but you have to eliminate everyone who knows your secret, except Iruka of course."

Kakashi nodded his confirmation while toying with the little packet of pills on his hand. It looked like he would have to rely on Iruka's skills mostly during this mission.

"Iruka, I will seal Kakashi's chakra now. Look carefully and learn. Perhaps you will need this if Kakashi happens to release his chakra. Kakashi, pull your shirt up a bit and face me with your back," with that said, Sandaime made some hand seals as slow as possible so that Iruka could catch his movements. He then nicked his thumb and drew a simple drawing of seal on Kakashi lower back with his blood. He glimpsed at Iruka after he did that and knew that Iruka was following so he did the next step which was putting his palm on the seal. A faint light glowed for a second and the blood seal became a faint red colour when Sandaime removed his palm.

"I just need to channel my chakra into the seal after I drew it, right?"

"Yes. The seal was drawn on his lower back to seal the root of chakra which is located at the base of his spine. Don't look so worried, Iruka. Kakashi can still fight even without his chakra," Sandaime said, trying to soothe Iruka as he realised that the crease between Iruka's brows deepened.

"Don't worry. My Taijutsu are usually not chakra enforced," putting on his cheerful smile again, Kakashi opened his vest and Iruka was immediately surprised by what he saw inside.

"Honey, are you impressed?" looking at Iruka, Kakashi smiled again. No one knew about what was under his vest besides Gai. He was good in Ninjutsu but his chakra reserve was not exactly high like something Naruto was blessed with. Therefore, Gai suggested him to strengthen his Taijutsu skill so that he could still put up a fight after he spent his chakra.

"You take weights with you all the time? Like Lee?" too busy feeling impressed by what he saw, Iruka did not even bother to react to Kakashi's teasing as he traced his fingers slowly on the metal plates that were joined into the form of a vest, currently hanging off Kakashi's shoulder.

"Yep, honey. Do you love me more already?" smiling again, Kakashi took off the weights and put them on the desk as Iruka looked like he was about to strip him already.

"Oh, they are just in front. That's why you can pull up your shirt just now," Iruka slowly tested the weight of the plates and looked at Kakashi in awe.

"Yeah. If I have it at the back, it will be too uncomfortable to sit down so I have it on my arms and upper calves instead," Kakashi explained while he mentally noted that impressing Iruka would result in a very cute Iruka looking at you in fascination.

"Wow, you have more? I knew it! Your look never matches your weight. I mean you are like hundred eighty one centimetres and you weight like sixty seven point five kilograms so you are suppose to look lean but you don't!"

"Maa, I never knew you looked at me so closely until you know my weight and height," surprised by Iruka's precise knowledge about him, Kakashi teased and anticipated for Iruka's reaction.

"Always my responsibility to understand you baby," Iruka retorted back without much venom as he was still impressed by Kakashi.

"So, don't worry too much Iruka. I won't assign someone who cannot take care of you on this mission," smiling slightly at Iruka's childlike reaction, Sandaime said. Iruka looked at Sandaime in appreciation as he too smiled genuinely.

"This is where Gai will be staying during this mission. You will pass information to him once a week. Both of you are expected to leave at noon. Kakashi, drop all your ninja gear. Iruka, you are allowed to go as a ninja but remember your cover as an academy teacher. Gai will leave later at night as we don't want to raise any suspicion. I had already sent another letter to Mist telling them that you will bring your civilian boyfriend along so they will be expecting you too Kakashi. We can't find out anything more about the pendant so we will depend on both of you," passing a simple map with an X drawn on one of the small village around the border of Mist to Kakashi, Sandaime explained. He then handed a black box with the pendant in it to Iruka.

Both Kakashi and Iruka nodded at the explanation. This would be a long mission and both of them knew that it would be long before they could actually come back to Konoha. A long silence stretched and finally Kakashi picked up his weights and put them back on as he stood and walked towards the window.

"I'll be going to pack first. See you at the gate on twelve," with that, Kakashi jumped out of the window and vanished in a swirl of smoke. Sandaime was surprisingly calm as he did not yell at Kakashi for using the window, instead he looked at Iruka with a solemn expression.

"Be careful, Iruka."

"Yes, Hokage-sama. See you after this mission ended. I won't forget about my threat," putting up a bright smile, Iruka joked slightly despite his nervous feeling as he clutched tight on the black box in his palm. "Then, excuse me Hokage-sama," bowing slightly, Iruka walked towards the door and left silently. He still had a pervert to meet at twelve.

After the two ninjas left, Sandaime lit his pipe and inhaled deeply. He hoped that everything would go well for Kakashi and Iruka during this mission. He could not afford to lose people as dear as his own blood relatives. _"Watch over them, will you?" _looking out of his window at the direction of the Hokage monument, Sandaime silently prayed.

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Iruka carried his canvas bag over his shoulder and walked to the gate. He did not have a chance to say goodbye to his class as the mission was highly classified and Sandaime did not wish too many people to know about it. He walked in a slow pace, taking in the sights of Konoha which he knew he would start to miss soon. He was musing silently when he caught the sight of Kakashi slouching under a tree at the gate. He was surprised when he saw Kakashi was actually early and more importantly, he was in civilian's clothes.

"Yo. Like what you see?" Kakashi knew he looked good in civilian clothing so he decided to tease Iruka for a bit as Iruka approached him.

"Wait another one thousand years, Hatake," Iruka retorted back instantly. He would not admit that Kakashi, in low cut fitting jeans plus a white top and his usual dark mask replaced with something much lighter in colour, looked like a modern and real version of Adonis. His hitai-ate was replaced with an eye-patch that matched his light colour mask and without his hitai-ate, his hair looked even wilder than usual. "You dropped your weights?" noticing that Kakashi was looking much leaner than when he was in ninja gear, Iruka asked curiously as he could not see any trace of weights on Kakashi.

"Yep, wearing them will be a bother during mission."

"How about weapons?"

"Only a dagger. I'm civilian remember? Kunai and shuriken are not for me."

"Oh right. Shall we go then?" holding the black box in his pocket tightly, Iruka asked Kakashi while looking at the direction of the gate.

"C'mon. Let's go."

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"A civilian boyfriend huh?"

"Civilian boyfriend?"

"Yes. That's what the Hokage said in the latest letter. The son of that traitor Umino will bring along his civilian boyfriend."

"Oh, that's surprising. We have one more guest it seems."

"Yeah. We will have to welcome them properly, shouldn't we?"

"You are evil. So, how many people should I send to their so called welcoming party?"

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A/N: Yay! Mission started. Took me long enough to do that. The root of chakra stuff is based on something I read on internet, saying that the colour of root chakra is red. Big thanks to those who reviewed and I'm really sorry if my perverted sense of humour offended any of you. ='( Anyway hope you enjoy your read and leave me a review, kay? ^^


	11. Chapter 11

Living in the Mist (Chapter 11)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

"Are you okay?" Iruka asked in concern when he saw the currently sweat soaked Kakashi. Kakashi's white top was plastered to his toned body due to the sweat and every heave of his chest can be clearly seen. Some of his hair was plastered to his forehead and Iruka had to admit that Kakashi was downright sexy.

"I'm fine. It's just like doing five hundred laps backward around Konoha without using chakra," Kakashi said as he swept his hair away from his sticky forehead. "I think I need to take care of my sweaty condition, it's really irritating. Civilians clothes are not designated for mission."

"Yeah, I can see that," taking pity on Kakashi, Iruka chose to agree with Kakashi instead of laughing at him.

"Do you have any extra hair tie?" swiping his sticky hair away from his face, Kakashi tried to hold his hair into a pony tail while asking Iruka for a hair tie.

"Here. Can you tie your hair? It is too short," passing the hair tie to Kakashi, Iruka looked at Kakashi messy hair in wonder. Kakashi nodded as he tried to smooth his hair into the messy pony tail and once he succeeded, he deftly tied the pony tail in place. It was not too much like a pony tail as his hair was sticking out in every direction and most of his hair was too short to make it into the pony tail. However, it did the trick of keeping the longer strands of hair out of his face and Iruka noticed that Kakashi actually looked good in the messy hair style, a lot younger.

"Much better, thanks," Kakashi sighed once he was done and gave Iruka a genuine smile.

"No problem. Shall we get going or do you need a rest?" Iruka was trying hard not to blush at Kakashi smile. The light colour mask made Kakashi features more visible and from what he could see was the outline of a long straight nose and a pair of curving thin lips. Iruka also noticed that whenever he did something nice to Kakashi, he would receive a smile coupled with a sincere thank you. Perhaps he should treat Kakashi nicer from now on.

"I am good. We can take a stop at the river," still smiling, Kakashi started their travel again. He did not have any chakra so he could not do the fancy jumping on tree branches stunt but he could still run at the forest floor with an admirable speed.

"Alright," Iruka concentrated his chakra on his feet once Kakashi started to run. He was really impressed that Kakashi could run like that without the aid of chakra. He actually needed to use a fair amount of chakra to keep up with Kakashi's speed. _"Guess this is why he is a jounin and I'm not," _musing silently, Iruka ran right behind Kakashi towards their destination.

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"Thank god for inventing something called water," Iruka sighed audibly as he splashed the cool water on his face. The burning sun and their nonstop running were making him sticky from all the perspiration.

"This is exactly what I thought when you gave me water during our stay in the hospital," Kakashi sighed too as he felt the cool water with his hand. He then stripped off his soaked shirt and started to splash water on his torso to cool himself down.

"I thought you were a frog back then," Iruka chuckled and turned to Kakashi but immediately turned away again as he noticed Kakashi was not wearing any top.

"Honey, are you shy? I'm pretty sure I have a sexy torso," looking at Iruka's reaction, Kakashi decided to tease him using their developed nicknames for each other, honey and baby.

"No, Hatake. Don't be so freaking arrogant," Iruka deadpanned while looking for stones that could be thrown at that bastard without killing him. Kakashi's laughter filled the clearing once he heard Iruka's reply.

"I was just teasing. Can you leave me alone for a while? I would like to wash my face, the mask is killing me," pulling and prodding at his own mask but not pulling it down, Kakashi requested.

"Alright, I will be back in five minutes," with that said, Iruka took his canvas bag and walked away, leaving Kakashi alone at the riverside.

Kakashi was crouching at the riverside washing his face when he sensed the presence of someone else besides Iruka. He did not have any chakra to stretch out his senses but years of field experience told him that he had company and the smell of metal indicated that his guests most likely would be ninjas. Without giving out anything, Kakashi slowly tied his mask back in place and fished for a new piece of shirt in his bag. While he acted like he knew nothing, Kakashi was actually assessing his surrounding with his gifted ears and nose.

"Iruka honey, I'm done!" Kakashi yelled while he put on his shirt. _"More than one. I can't tell the exact number though."_

Iruka was thinking to yell back at Kakashi for calling him honey but he suddenly realised that Kakashi did not do that to irritate him as the teasing tone in Kakashi's voice was gone. Iruka stretched out his senses as he rushed to Kakashi. He immediately sensed the chakra of their guests and he breathed a sigh of relieve when he saw Kakashi sat on a rock, looking at him and motioning him to go over once he reached the riverside. Iruka complied.

"How many?" Kakashi was leaning to Iruka with his mouth close to Iruka's right ear so that he could whisper his question. Iruka did not answer but he hooked two of his fingers with Kakashi's thumb. For anyone who saw them, they would look like a lovey-dovey couple and that worked just fine with their mission scope.

"If they attack, fight. I'll try to support you," Kakashi whispered against Iruka's ear once again before he stood and pulled Iruka up with him. However, a kunai that slashed through caused Kakashi to release Iruka's hand and he hopped back a few steps away from the attack. Iruka was by his side in an instant, gripping a kunai tightly while looking at his surrounding in full alert. He turned his head around trying to locate their enemies at the same time protecting Kakashi from any potential attack.

"Left, behind that tree. Right, still running about," Kakashi once again whispered to Iruka as his nose and ears picked up the scents and movements of their enemies. Iruka nodded and flung an explosion tag at the tree. As Kakashi predicted, the ninja jumped out of his hiding place right before the explosion and immediately started to make hand seals. The slashed forehead protector showed that he was from Sound. Iruka did not hesitate as he pulled out his weapons and threw them in succession at the ninja to prevent him from finishing the hand seals. This did the job as the ninja had to unsheathe his katana to deflect the weapons and the sequence of hand seals was broken.

Iruka did not give the ninja any break time as he started his attack again. However, Iruka had to stop abruptly and blocked the barrage of shuriken from another enemy. Once he turned his back to his initial enemy, the guy charged with his katana, trying to stab Iruka but he made a lethal mistake. He forgot to count Kakashi in the picture. Right before the tip of the katana could touch Iruka's undefended back, Kakashi shot his hand out and held the wrist of the katana wielder so tight that the bone cracked and a loud wail erupted from the missing ninja's throat. Kakashi did not give the ninja anymore time to suffer in pain as he twisted the hand, effectively dislodging the joint of shoulder and arm and made the ninja knelt. In one swift move, Kakashi broke the ninja's neck by twisting it to the left and upward with both of his palms. The familiar sound of death reached his ears and he removed his hands, letting the ninja dropped dead to the floor.

Iruka was quite clear about what was happening behind him as the sickening sound of breaking bones and the loud wail of pain reached him. He did not pay too much attention to that as he was still engaged in a fight. The weapons that scorched through the openings did not let Iruka to get a chance to attack as he defended both Kakashi and himself. Kakashi who stood behind Iruka was finding an opening to charge. It was hard without his Sharingan to predict movements but he would have to thank Gai for the intense Taijutsu training without chakra. When their opponent struck again, Kakashi grabbed the handle of one of the flying kunai with precise accuracy and flung it right back to its owner. The enemy was shocked but still able to deflect the kunai in time. However, he was too late to block the senbon that struck right between his eyes. The poison in the senbon worked immediately as he fell silently, eyes wide opened and blood gushed out from his eyes, nose and ears.

"What wicked aim. I'm impressed," Kakashi looked at Iruka approvingly as the poisoned senbon struck the enemy right on the spot.

"Impressed? You should look at how you fight without chakra. Scary jounin," Iruka muttered under his breath darkly, not taking the compliment from Kakashi. He could never break someone's wrist single-handedly without enforcing chakra in his palm. But from what he heard just now, Kakashi could do that seemingly easily and not to mention about the catching flying kunai in midair stunt.

"Ouch, I'm hurt," feigning his hurt puppy look, Kakashi walked over to the corpses, trying to identify them but had no luck in doing so. He then held his hand out to Iruka while saying, "Orochimaru is on the move it seems. Sound missing ninjas, most probably are Orochimaru underlings wanting to get our pendant."

"We must hurry to Mist then. Maybe they will provide us with shelter or protection at least," Iruka said hopefully while he handed a small tube of liquid to Kakashi. He then watched in silence as Kakashi poured the liquid into the mouth of both of the dead ninjas and the liquid started to corrode the bodies inside out and finally nothing was left except a pile of bloody clothes. That was easier to take care of as Iruka just needed some flammable liquid and a burning match to destroy the remaining evidence. Once they made sure they cleared the evidence of their battles, Kakashi looked at Iruka and nodded to the direction of the forest.

"Done. Let's go."

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"Iruka, stop."

Hearing the order from Kakashi, Iruka abruptly stopped in his running and looked at the sweat soaked again mission partner. "What is it?" he asked quietly.

"We're reaching the border of Mist. I'll have to do something about my appearance," explaining the reason to Iruka, Kakashi started to fish around in his own bag while Iruka was looking at him with great interest.

"How? You can't do henge since you don't have any chakra so what are you planning?" curious, Iruka looked at Kakashi in wonder as he thought about the possibilities of what Kakashi would do. However, the thing that Kakashi was doing right now did not even cross his mind for once.

"M-m-m-mask! Pull it back up!" Iruka stuttered and blushed when he saw Kakashi lowered his mask in an agonizing slow pace. He could not tear his gaze away so he forced himself to close his eyelids instead to prevent himself to look at Kakashi's bare face.

"C'mon honey, don't be shy. I'm not that ugly you know," Kakashi teased. He was pleased with Iruka's reactions and he found that the blush that dusted across Iruka's cheek was especially endearing. This immediately worked as Iruka opened his eyes to yell at Kakashi but his words died at the corners of his mouth as he saw Kakashi smiling at him, the ever present mask gone.

"Aww, my honey loves my face. I love this face too," Kakashi looked at the gold fish imitating Iruka and teased further.

"You love this face? How arrogant can you be?" Iruka huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Maa, this is the face that I wished I could look like. This is a henge," Kakashi explained with a laugh. Iruka was really childlike when it came to reactions.

"Henge? But you don't have any chakra!" looking at the straight nose, thin lips and square jaw, Iruka had to admit that Kakashi's taste for handsome guy was definitely on the right track. The square jaw added a touch of masculinity to the pale face and the barely visible stubble matched well with the whole picture. This face was definitely a face to die for.

"I did that before Sandaime sealed my chakra. I can't change back to my original look anymore as my chakra flow was completely stopped. I will have to stick in this form until I have my chakra back," explaining to Iruka again, Kakashi removed his eye patch and to Iruka endless surprise, the Sharingan and the scar were nowhere to be seen. Instead, the bare face was free from any scar and the original mismatched colour eyes were replaced with two equally dark orbs.

"How about your Sharingan? Is it okay if you leave it uncovers like that?"

"Yep, should be fine. The Sharingan can't drain any chakra from me as I don't have any chakra to start with," Kakashi reasoned and Iruka nodded his agreement but the silence did not last long as Iruka remembered the scene at the riverside.

"Wait, if this is a fake face, why on earth did you ask me to leave you alone at the riverside?"

"Because I'm anticipating for your reaction when you thought that this is my real face!" Kakashi answered in his merrily and instantly ducked to dodge a few stones that were aimed at him.

"Go die, Hatake!" Iruka spat with venom. He could not understand that pervert at all. That idiot could do anything just to get some reactions out of him. Talked about childish, this guy was at least ten times worse than him.

"I love you too, honey," Kakashi said cheerfully while he changed his top again as he could not stand the sweaty shirt plastered to him on every inch of his skin. He knew he was putting on a show and he was delighted when he noticed the faded blush on Iruka's face came back in full force once he showed his bare torso. He chose not to tease though as there were a lot of stones on the forest floor.

"I'm done. We should start acting like a couple as we are entering the border of Mist. I'm afraid that they will spy on us. We will move in a civilian pace from now on," Kakashi said in a serious tone while he stuffed his used clothes into another compartment of his bag. He would have to start acting as civilian as possible since they were going to enter the vicinity of Mist.

"Alright," Iruka agreed steadily as he looked blankly into the deep forest ahead of him. He was going to meet his family members soon but the unnerving feeling would not leave him alone. He decided to ignore his own inner turmoil and said quietly instead, "Let's get moving."

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"They are crossing the border."

"Finally. Took them long enough. Is the welcoming party all set?"

"Yes. We had set a huge one for them. Are you sure they are going to make it out alive?"

"Who knows? But I sure hope they do."

"You really are evil, you know that?"

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A/N: So the problems with Kakashi's appearance are solved! ^^ Big thanks to KakashiKrazed for pointing that out. I thought that if he dropped his ninja gear he should look different. Stupid me. - -''' Okay, there new chapter! Love the reviews from you guys and please drop me another one for this chappie! Hope you all enjoy the read. =D


	12. Chapter 12

Living in the Mist (Chapter 12)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

Kakashi and Iruka were walking through the forest in a devastatingly slow speed. They were now in the vicinity of Mist and the air around them had gotten really humid. The combination of the humid air and blazing sun just made the whole situation worse. Not to mention the mosquitoes that made up at least fifty percent of the insects' population in the forest had developed new love for their blood.

"I'm dying," Iruka grumbled as he took off his flak jacket. His whole body was soaked with sweat and his flak jacket had proven itself to be really irritating. He had long ago pushed his hitai-ate to his neck as his forehead was too sticky. His lively ponytail was in a total mess as dark brown strands of hair stuck out in every direction and there was actually sweat dripping down from the end of his hair.

"If you are dying now, then I'm already dead," Kakashi muttered his reply in annoyance, not to Iruka but to his shirt that plastered to his body like a second layer of skin. The forest floor in Mist, unlike Konoha, was full with moss and that made their walk even harder as it was slippery. He had folded his long jeans to knee length as the heat and humidity were too harsh to bear. His fluffy slivery white hair had long ago flattened to his scalp due to the excess sweat and his ponytail was as messy as Iruka's.

"I thought Konoha's weather is horrible, this is worse," Iruka complaint as he took a big gulp of drink from his water bottle. The cool water that slid down his throat was a luxury for him at that moment so he could not help but to drink a few more sips before Kakashi stopped him.

"Don't drink so much, the river is too far for us to go around and get water," Kakashi said although he knew perfectly that the cool water was definitely a luxurious treat for them right now.

"Sorry," Iruka apologized quietly as he kept his water bottle back to his bag. He looked up at the blue sky through the canopies layer and the glimmering sunlight that shone through the thick layers of leaves was actually a very beautiful view. He was so caught up in the view that he did not realise Kakashi had stopped and this caused him to bump right onto Kakashi's back. He was going to apologize again for his momentary day dreaming moments but held back as he saw the deep frown on Kakashi's now bare and fake face.

"What's wrong?" Iruka whispered. The serious look on Kakashi's face was never a good sign.

"It's too quiet," came the whispered reply as Kakashi held his chin up and started to sniff the air with his sense of smell as sharp as a hound.

"Quiet?" Iruka asked but immediately realised what was wrong. Initially when they entered the forest, they could hear the birds chirping, frogs croaking, various sounds from unknown insects and the irritating buzz of mosquitoes. However, right now the only sound to his ears was Kakashi's voice. The whole forest around them was otherwise silent and that was really unnerving.

"Something smells off," Kakashi said, the frown between his brows deepened as he sniffed the air again, trying to figure out what was the problem. Iruka looked at the concentrating Kakashi and decided to do his own portion of work, namely using his chakra to sharpen all his senses and tried to find the source of the problem.

"Iruka, try looking for traces of chakra. Is there any?" Kakashi who already had a good hunch on what was happening asked for Iruka's help to confirm his suspicion. Iruka's lips formed a tight thin line as he stretched his chakra as far as possible, scanning through their surroundings. He was not having any luck but right before he gave up, he sensed a flicker of chakra far away from them, deep in the forest.

"I can feel one," Iruka answered quietly while looking at Kakashi, wanting to know what was all that about.

"We are in a Genjutsu," Kakashi replied calmly as his suspicion was confirmed. He pulled his shirt away from his torso and immediately felt much better at the cool sensation on his chest.

"What?"

"It's alright. The Genjutsu is not strong or you can say the person who casts this Genjutsu isn't too good in what he or she does. The whole thing felt off because the caster did not replicate the sounds and the damp smell in the forest. That's why we are able to sense something wrong once we entered this illusion."

"Who are casting a Genjutsu on us?"

"I'm not sure but Sound won't attack on the land of Mist. They are alliance after all. So this means our enemy is most probably from Mist itself as this is their territory."

"They invited us here! They are supposed to throw us a welcome party with sake and lots of food instead of casting us a Genjutsu," Iruka huffed in annoyance. The horrible weather was bad enough and now they had to deal with a Genjutsu. Just how bad could this mission get?

"Iruka, do you know how to break a Genjutsu?" looking at the dishevelled Iruka, Kakashi asked in a serious tone, ignoring Iruka's complaints about welcoming party.

"I know the theories but I don't really have a lot of real experiences," Iruka answered truthfully.

"I don't have chakra so I need you to break this illusion in case they start to attack. If they don't, we can play their games along with them. Do you mind telling me how to break a Genjutsu? No offense but just making sure," Kakashi asked. He needed to make sure that Iruka knew how to escape the Genjutsu as he was totally powerless against this without his chakra.

"No offense taken. I need to stop my chakra flow, gather enough force and burst my chakra at one go to disrupt the caster's chakra flow. However, this will not work if my chakra level is lower than the caster's," Iruka said in his teacher's voice unintentionally as this was what he thought in his class.

"Good. Your chakra is most probably higher than the caster in this case. Once we break through the illusion, don't bother about fighting, just run. If we can reach your clan, at least things should be fine," Kakashi said in his even tone of voice and Iruka could not help to notice that this Kakashi in front of him right now was a totally different person from the aloof ninja in the village.

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Iruka and Kakashi continued their journey carefully after they found out about the Genjutsu. Every step was taken cautiously and they were on their full alert. It had been quite a while since they realised the Genjutsu but their enemy did not seem to make any further move so they acted like they knew nothing. However, their luck did not last long as a chakra flare signalled that the attack was going to start soon.

"Don't leave my side," feeling Iruka tensed beside him, Kakashi put a reassuring hand on Iruka's shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze.

"Same goes to you. Alright, break through the illusion and run like hell right?" taking a deep breath, Iruka outlined their plan to confirm it again with Kakashi.

"Yes, remember I can't fight. Just focus on getting us out," Kakashi said. The civilian cover was really making everything harder for both of them. Before Iruka could nod his confirmation, the attack started, startling both of them in their mid-conversation. Kunai and shuriken were surging towards them in a blaze of speed and Iruka could only depend on his ninja's instinct to block them. His skills were not exactly up to par to block all those pointy objects in ease. To make things worse, the Genjutsu caused darkness to envelope the forest and in a matter of minutes, there was absolutely nothing besides the surging weapons and the pitch black space.

"Break the Genjutsu!" Kakashi whispered urgently from Iruka's side. He was having a huge trouble himself as he had to hold on to his civilian cover. Not to say attack, he could not even take out his dagger and block the barrage of weapons if he wanted them to believe that he was a civilian. That was the reason why Kakashi was currently dodging the weapons in clumsy steps, each weapon surged past him dangerously close and some even managed to leave a few shallow cuts on him. He could not stick to this pretence any longer without getting hurt so he needed Iruka to break through, fast.

"Uh…" too busy to actually form a sentence, Iruka muttered an unintelligent sound while stopping his chakra in the middle of the fight. He was risking a lot as his senses dulled immediately without the aid of chakra. A stray kunai managed to leave a deep gash on his forearm but he could care less. The pain actually made him stayed alert in the dark. Depending solely on his instinct, Iruka cleared his mind and allowed his body to do the work that it was familiar with, namely blocking weapons. _"This is just like teaching a bunch of pre-genin how to use kunai. Block them just like how I did in the classes. I'm good at this," _Iruka chanted as he moved his body with his reflexes and instinct. His muscles flexing as he moved to deflect the weapons, the sound of metal hitting metal vibrated in his ears like a calming song. Once he was calm enough, Iruka focused his attention on drawing his chakra together and right when he had enough, he released his chakra in one burst and the bright light that followed his action instantly blinded Kakashi and him momentarily.

"Are we out?" Iruka asked silently, his hand gripping on his kunai so tightly that his knuckles were white. The attack from the weapons stopped and there were kunai and shuriken littered around them carelessly. His eyes finally regained vision as he took in the sight of the lush green forest and moss-filled forest floor. However, there was no enemy to be seen so Iruka tried to sense their chakra instead.

"I could not sense any chakra and the enemy is nowhere to be seen," Iruka said in a confused tone, slowly relaxing his grip on his weapon.

"I can't smell them either but this forest looks right and smells right. Perhaps they were hiding," Kakashi sniffed the air and said while swatting away a mosquito which was buzzing right beside his ears. One look at Iruka had his brows furrowed together in worry as he said, "Your arm…"

"It's alright, just a cut. It looks worse than it really is," Iruka answered truthfully while fishing around his bag for some bandages to stop the blood. He looked at Kakashi and was surprised by the multiple little cuts that marred the pale skin.

"I'm alright too. I purposely get myself cut. Seems that they casted a Genjutsu on us to block our vision so that they could attack us from reality. But once we broke through, they hid themselves. Better stay on alert," Kakashi deduced their enemy's battle plan as he tended his own injuries. They were nothing major but it was better to bandage them properly before he could tear those cuts again. Somehow he knew the attacks would not stop just there.

"Yeah, shall we get going?" Iruka asked after he bandaged his arm but before Kakashi could answer, the ground beneath them shook violently and Iruka immediately shot his hand out to grab Kakashi and jumped onto a tree. The ground that they were sitting on crumbled into a pit black hole and Iruka heaved a sigh of relief as they managed to dodge the attack just in time. Both of them were tensed but relaxed ever slightly when no other attack followed the previous one.

"Where is the caster of this jutsu? I never sense any flare of chakra," Iruka looked around in confusion. If someone casted a jutsu, he was supposed to be able to sense the disruption in chakra. However, this attack just came like that without any warning. He could not sense any chakra disruption, heck he could not even sense any chakra.

"Shit, this means we're…" before Kakashi could finish his sentence, another earthquake occurred right below them and Iruka immediately jumped onto another tree, dragging Kakashi behind him.

"We're what?"

"Still in a Genjutsu."

"What?!"

"Shit Iruka, behind you!" Kakashi pulled Iruka down to the forest floor with him as he spotted the raging fire that surged towards them with its blazing heat. They dodged the fire just in time but were not given any break as the ground beneath them crumbled again. Iruka was quick to act as he focused his chakra on his feet and leap to a tree, one hand gripping Kakashi tightly.

"The fire fucking burned my hair!" Iruka exclaimed in irritation as he crouched on the tree, swatting his strands of hair that were caught on fire, cursing the damn fire that dare to burn his precious hair.

"This is most probably a Genjutsu to dull your senses. Make you couldn't sense their chakra as they cast the jutsu. This means that the jutsu is real, not just something to mess up our mind," crouching beside Iruka, Kakashi wished that he could use his Sharingan now and fucking Kamui the caster's head into a pot of boiling soup.

"This also means that we will be dead if we caught up in one of them," Iruka said in a matter of fact manner, not bothering to sense chakra anymore but focusing on his surrounding for any incoming attacks.

"Yep, so don't get hit. I'm useless now. Fucking civilian boyfriend cover," Kakashi cursed under his breath. He felt really miserable looking at Iruka did all the work but he could only stick to his cover and act like a civilian. This pissed him off to no end. But before he could continue his dark thought any further, a huge fireball came behind them, clearing everything in its path. Iruka was gripping Kakashi's hand again as he prepared to leap away from the attack. However, the unexpected kunai that sliced through them caused both of them to release their hold on each other's hand out of pure instinct.

"Shit, Kakashi!" Iruka yelled once he realised the mistake he made.

"Fuck! Get away, Iruka!" silently calculating and knowing that it was impossible for Iruka to reach him and dodge the attack, Kakashi chose the better option among the bad ones. He then closed his eyes, expecting a grand fall to the forest floor which would probably result in some bone fractures. His prediction never came true. Instead, right before he hit the ground, countless vines with thorns wrapped around his limbs and torso, cutting through his skin and holding him upright in a painful torture. The huge fireball slowly dissipated and a very worry Iruka was rushing to him yelling his name on top of his lungs.

"If I were you, I would stop moving now," a smooth female voice rang behind Kakashi and he was suddenly aware that he could not sense her at all before she started to talk. _"Must be the fucking Genjutsu messing with my senses," _Kakashi thought as he saw Iruka stopped abruptly, staring at his direction, chocolate brown eyes widen in shock as the smoke from the fireball cleared enough to let Iruka saw his bloody condition.

"Yes, good boy. Welcome home, traitor Umino," the female said in her smooth voice as she pressed her katana on Kakashi's neck.

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A/N: Died writing this. I'm not happy with this chapter again but yeah I posted it up anyway. Hope that the fight scene isn't too complicated to understand. Thanks to those who reviewed. Please drop me a review for this chappie? ^^


	13. Chapter 13

Living in the Mist (Chapter 13)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

Iruka stared silently at the woman. If one's looks could kill, that woman would be long ago dead but too bad looks could not so Kakashi was still held captive with a katana pressed closely to his throat. The amount of blood that seeped out from the veins tainted the forest floor with a sickening shade of dark red did not make the whole picture any better.

"Let's see, our clan invited you and the pendant over here but I don't remember anything about bringing along anyone you want," the woman spoke again in her smooth voice, as if she was not in a position that could kill a person in less than a second. Iruka's felt his temper boiled.

"He is my boyfriend! What do you expect me to do? Ditch him and come over here?" Iruka spat venomously, not bothering to hide his annoyance. He was angry at the fact that his clan was playing words with him, not to mention the fact that he was called a traitor. He had never imagined that he, Umino Iruka out of all people would be referred as a traitor. It was an insult for him who swore his full loyalty to the village and sincerely meant it with everything he had.

"Is this the way you speak to your sister?" pressing her katana a little harder on Kakashi's throat, the woman said in a disapproving tone. _"Wow, soap opera scene. This is where Iruka will cry his eyeballs out and say oh I miss you so much!" _Kakashi mused sarcastically while thinking to tell the woman to be careful with her katana but he doubted that a civilian would do something like that. That was why he opted to tremble, making pained little grunts while displaying a terrified face at Iruka, successfully transmitting the save-me-please aura.

"S-Sister?!" Iruka could not help but gaped openly. He reached Mist, survived the horrible forest with mosquitoes that love their blood, survived the terrible weather that destroyed his ponytail along with his handsome look, survived all of the Genjutsu and Ninjutsu casted on them and now with Kakashi in a lethal position, he was told that he had a sister.

"Yes, sister as in we share the same parents," the woman explained idly, she pulled her katana slightly further away from Kakashi's throat and Kakashi heaved a sigh of relieve. At least now he could swallow his own saliva without worrying about making a cut on his own throat.

"Y-y-you? S-Sister?" Iruka was so surprised that he could not compose a coherent sentence so he just spoke whatever words that came to his mind at that time.

"Yes. Me. Sister," the woman replied, clearly amused by Iruka's gold fish imitation session. She slowly removed her katana from Kakashi's throat and placed it over her narrow shoulder while waiting for Iruka to speak again. However, Iruka did not do anything other than looking at her with an unreadable look. Decided to stop her staring session with Iruka, the woman glanced at her wristwatch and that immediately made her smiled and spoke.

"Yes, time's up! Look, I'm not a bad person. I was ordered to…"

"Junko!" a gruff male voice rang out effectively cutting the woman in her mid-sentence. _"Oh, so her name is Junko," _Kakashi mused but his train of thoughts was cut off abruptly as the veins around him loosened, making him sighed in relief as he was spared from the intense pain. The veins slowly retreated as Kakashi was gently lowered down to the forest floor by those veins, contrasting with the treatment he received a while back. Iruka wanted to rush to Kakashi's side but a man with veins curling around him landed right beside Kakashi and Iruka instantly glared daggers at him, knowing that he was the one who put Kakashi in the painful position.

"I'm sorry," the man said apologetically as he extended another vein from his arm and used it to run across Kakashi's wounds. Iruka looked at the man in shock as Kakashi's wounds were healed slowly by the vein. He most certainly did not expect an enemy to heal Kakashi, not to mention the apology.

"I told you he would be tanned like the rest of us!" another voice rang out behind Iruka but this time one could easily tell that the person was young with his excited childlike tone. Iruka immediately turned around and his deduction was confirmed when he saw a tanned skin boy, probably around eighteen years old standing behind him with a rakish grin plastered on his face as he pointed a finger at Iruka. His short dark hair was sticking out wildly and somehow his attitude just reminded Iruka of Naruto.

"He is so handsome, Kohaku! Oh, look at his boyfriend, his boyfriend!" a girl around the same age landed beside the Naruto's alike, Kohaku as she pointed excitedly at Kakashi. _"What is this? Older version of Team Seven?" _Iruka looked at the tanned skin girl disbelievingly. Her long hair was cascading down her shoulder like a dark waterfall and the dimples on her cheek were too cute to be ignored. She really represented Sakura a lot in her fan girl mode.

"They are handsome right, Kiyoko? Especially this guy, oh my god, he is so fair!" Junko exclaimed, pointing at Kakashi, as she too decided to join the conversation. Iruka was completely stunned at the sudden change of situation so he just gaped at every single one of them.

"Look at the milky skin, Kohaku, Hiraku! Both of them are so handsome!" Kiyoko exclaimed and looked at Kakashi dreamily as she grabbed Kohaku's arm and shook it none too gently. _"Definitely Sakura's replica," _despite the absurdity of the situation, Iruka nodded slightly to himself as he saw the scene displayed in front of him. He was in the middle of a battle, fighting with all he had but now their enemies were commenting about how handsome Kakashi and he were. What was wrong with this mission?

"Hnn."

"_Okay, great. Sasuke is here. Replica of Team Seven, completed," _Iruka thought once he heard he single syllable reply. A boy with equally dark hair but slightly fairer skin leaped down to joined Kohaku and Kiyoko as he muttered his reply to Kiyoko. The whole situation was so absurd that Iruka did not even feel like thinking anymore.

"C'mon, don't look like that. We are praising you, you know? You are very good-looking and you are really lucky to find a boyfriend like that," Junko walked over to Iruka and patted the stunned chuunin on the shoulder. She did not receive any reaction from Iruka though.

"Thanks," Kakashi said as he glanced at the man standing beside him once his wounds were healed. _"Okay, he restrained me and now he healed me. Must be my handsome look. I love you, face," _Kakashi mused to himself as he tried to move his stiff body in an unsuccessful attempt.

"No problem. Sorry for hurting you just now. You can call me Akio," the man said as he extended a hand to Kakashi. _"Now he is flirting with me. I seriously love you, face," _Kakashi grabbed the hand and pulled himself up while thanking his fake face in silence.

"Hello? Are you listening?" waving a hand in front of Iruka's face, Junko asked.

"Junko, you are scaring him," Kiyoko said in annoyance as she ran to Iruka's side and patted him on the head softly like a mum would do to her child. However, Iruka still did not react to any of them. Kakashi was looking at the two girls in fascination, silently contemplating how much both of them resembled Sakura and Ino and that was when he realised that he actually had a whole set of Team Seven replicas right here. He could not help but chuckled slightly at the bizarre situation. He just had a katana pressed close to his throat but now he was healed and was actually on a friendly term with their enemies. _"Maa, who cares? As long as I don't need to fight in that pathetic cover anymore," _Kakashi thought while looking at the injured Iruka and hoped that Akio would patch Iruka up as well.

"Junko, Kiyoko, move away. Let me heal him," as if he could read Kakashi's mind, Akio walked to Iruka's direction with his vein once again extended and Iruka was finally stunned out of his stupor when he felt the vein ran across his skin in a pleasant cool sensation.

"Uh, thanks," not knowing what to say, Iruka warily thanked the person who was their enemy one moment before.

"You're welcome. We don't exactly have the authority to explain what happen just now, so please follow us back and our clan leader will explain everything to you," Akio said once he made sure both Kakashi and Iruka was healed enough to move without pain. Iruka looked at Kakashi, a frown forming on his forehead as he was still unable to comprehend the situation fully.

"You are from Umino clan?"

"Yes, we all are," Akio nodded. Iruka stared.

"Honey, come let's go," decided to go with the flow of the situation, Kakashi said sweetly as he clung to Iruka's arm and pulled a very blur Iruka along with him towards the group that were waiting for them.

"Uh, alright baby," unable to think properly, Iruka allowed himself to be dragged by a very happy looking Kakashi.

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"They made it through our welcome party?"

"Yes."

"Even the civilian?"

"Yes. They are better than we thought. We sent quite a number of people but we sent all the soft hearted ones. Perhaps our people went easy on them."

"They are lucky, aren't they? Maybe I should not set the time limit after all. Well then, we will have to make up some explanations for the welcome party."

"I thought you are going to tell them the truth?"

"Tell them I did that because I want the civilian dead? Because I want the pendant? Nah, I won't. Help me to think of something will you?"

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"Are we there yet?" Kakashi whined while clinging to Iruka's arm despite his sticky state.

"We're reaching soon. You guys are unfamiliar with the weather right?" Akio replied in his polite tone without looking back at them.

"Yeah. Konoha is hot but it is dry and windy. Mist is hot but it is more to humid so we are not really used to it," Iruka said as he tried to remove his arm from Kakashi's death grip. He was quite sure that his arm was going to melt soon if Kakashi's did not release his grip.

"Then this must be a hard journey for both of you," Akio commented as he continued to walk in his steady pace.

"Totally. My limbs don't feel like limbs anymore. They feel like steamed vegetables," Kakashi whined as he clung tighter on Iruka's arm. He knew that Iruka was getting uncomfortable but he was enjoying the view of an irritated Iruka who was trying to be polite to Akio while glaring at him viciously once he thought no one was looking. The switch of emotions on Iruka's face was a funny sight to look at so Kakashi decided that he should irritate Iruka even more.

"Oh, do you need any help with that?" once Kiyoko heard Kakashi's complaints, she rushed over to his side and flashed him a pretty smile while walking alongside with him and Iruka.

"This is very nice of you but it's alright. My boyfriend here will take care of me," Kakashi said, emphasizing on the word boyfriend as he leaned to stick with Iruka as if they were glued together. _"Fucking Hatake doing this just to annoy me," _Iruka was silently counting sheep to prevent his temper outburst which he knew he could not risk to have as they were a pair of "loving" couple after all. Therefore, he started a conversation with Junko to distract himself from the sticky form leaning towards him.

"Junko-san, just now you said that you are my sister. Is it true?"

"Yep," Junko answered as she looked at Iruka directly. Iruka was stunned once again at the confession so Junko decided to explain further.

"I am your dad's adopted daughter."

"Adopted?" Iruka was surprised to hear that and he did not bother to hide it.

"Yep, I was adopted by him since I was a kid but we can talk about this later. We are reaching," pointing at the huge gate, Junko smiled and jogged to Akio to walk alongside with him.

"We're reaching. We will leave once we showed you the way to the Umino mansion. Our clan leader will be waiting for your arrival," Akio turned to look at Kakashi and Iruka.

"Akio-sama, welcome back," the gate keeper bowed to Akio once they reached the gate.

"Open the gate. Both of them here are the guests of Umino clan so treat them with respect," Akio said sternly to the gate keeper.

"Yes, Akio-sama. I will make sure everyone knows that," bowing once again to Akio, the gate keeper opened the gate to allow them access into the village.

"_Finally we are in the village. And what was the Akio-sama thing? Is he that powerful around here?" _Iruka mused.

"Hey, why did the gate keeper address you as Akio-sama?" Kakashi voiced out his question and Iruka looked at him in surprise. _"Is this what they called the resonance between lovers?" _Iruka shuddered at this thought.

"Oh, I work directly under one of our clan leader's trusted people. So I guess that makes them address me as such," Akio answered briefly but Kakashi and Iruka did not push him any further.

"I see."

"Alright. The Umino mansion is just right across this street. You can recognise it with the surname plate beside the mansion's entrance. We will take our leave now," Akio said as he pointed down the street.

"Okay, thanks for showing the way."

"No problem. Excuse us now."

"See you around and I'm really sorry for putting my katana on your handsome baby's neck," Junko said to Iruka as she grinned at him and turned around to follow Akio. The three youngsters who were silently following them bowed slightly to both Kakashi and Iruka before they took their leave as well.

"So, we are alone again. Funny huh? They fought with us, we lost, they healed us and brought us here," Kakashi said as he rubbed his face close to Iruka's head while still clinging on Iruka's arm. He was not so lucky this time as Iruka slammed his fist on top on his head with all his might.

"Hatake, I was signalling you to let go of me all the time because I'm damn fucking hot and you fucking brainless perverted shithead decided to ignore me!" Iruka hissed in a low tone of voice while glaring at Kakashi, totally ignoring Kakashi's comment on the weird situation as he had long ago gave up to think why their enemies stopped attacking and befriended them out of a sudden.

"Yeah, I know you are damn fucking hot. Apparently that Kiyoko girl thought so too as she was ogling at your ass all the time when she walked behind us," Kakashi said as he leaned his full weight on Iruka, grinning slightly at his successful attempt to twist Iruka's sentence.

"Fuck you, Hatake!" Iruka snarled as he dragged the hopeless pervert to the direction of the Umino mansion in large strides.

"I prefer to fuck you but yeah I think I'm okay with both ways," Kakashi said again in his off-handed tone and chuckled slightly when he felt the fist that connected with his head once again.

"_Ah, how youthful…"_

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A/N: Sorry for the slight delay. I was in a long flight yesterday and now my butt hurts, badly. Anyway, new chapter! No more kick-ass fight scenes but some events transition period instead. Hope you all enjoy it. Big big thanks to everyone who reviewed. I love you guys. ^^ Please review for this chappie as well, thanks!


	14. Chapter 14

Living in the Mist (Chapter 14)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

"Is it this one?" still clinging to Iruka's arm, Kakashi tilted his head to the side and asked.

"Yeah, there the surname plate," Iruka said while pointing to the beautifully crafted surname plate hanging right beside the huge door.

"Is this gold? Your clan sure is rich huh?" touching slightly at the dips of the plate, Kakashi scrutinized the surname plate.

"Hands off. Are you a little kid?" pulling Kakashi's fingers away from the plate, Iruka scolded the now grinning Kakashi.

"Maa, should we go in?" Kakashi said as he detached himself from Iruka, marvelling at how sticky both of them were.

"Yeah, uh knock, you knock," Iruka looked at Kakashi and the door in turns as he felt the familiar feeling rose in his chest.

"Okay, I knock. You calm down. Don't pass out on me," smiling at the obviously nervous Iruka, Kakashi teased and rubbed soothingly at Iruka's forearm.

"P-p-pass out?! I won't!" Iruka blurted.

"Okay, you won't. You are just demonstrating how a woman will act before her marriage," decided not to knock yet, Kakashi smoothed strands of stray hair out of Iruka sticky forehead as he continued to rub Iruka's forearm.

"I-I'm not an engaged woman! But that's not exactly the point here. Uh, the point is, the point is, uh, what is the point again?"

"Iruka, you are blabbering."

"Am !? No! Of course not! I was talking about the point, the point uh…"

"Iruka, shh calm down. I know you are nervous so take deep breathes and calm down alright?" grabbing Iruka's forearms, Kakashi shook them slightly as he used his thumbs to rub circles on the spot.

"Alright, take deep breathes. I can do this."

"Yes, you can. Now count, one."

"Okay. One," once Iruka said that, he inhaled a deep breath, released it and looked at Kakashi expectantly once he was done.

"Alright, two."

"Two," another deep breathe.

"Three! Push, honey! Push! I can see the head already, push!" fighting hard to keep the grin off his face, Kakashi whispered urgently to Iruka. That finally did the trick as Iruka looked at him disbelievingly and whispered profanity back at him.

"Head? The fuck, Hatake?!"

"There, much better. Don't be so nervous, okay? It'll be alright," grinning happily, Kakashi released his hold on Iruka's forearms and patted Iruka's shoulder instead.

"Yeah, let's go in," after a moment of silence, Iruka looked up at Kakashi and smiled sincerely.

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"Are they going to come in or what?"

"Our gate keeper said that two had been out there for a while talking about something he could not hear."

"They are actually making me wait?"

"Yes, they are."

"Fine. Have you thought of something to cover up the welcome party?"

"Yes."

"Good. You know I love you right?"

"Shut up."

"Ouch."

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"We have been expecting both of you. Please walk straight from here and you will see the main hall not too far away. The clan leader is waiting for your arrival in the hall," the person who opened the gate for them said once they entered the mansion.

"Got it. Thanks," smiling to the gate keeper, Kakashi tightened his hold on Iruka's hand and pulled Iruka towards the direction of the hall.

"Kakashi, what should I do when I see the clan leader?" feeling another on-coming panic attack, Iruka stopped abruptly and asked.

"Bow and say your greetings."

"Okay. After that?"

"Listen to what the clan leader says."

"Okay. And then?"

"Iruka, stop panicking," finally stopping in his way to the main hall, Kakashi looked at Iruka directly and said.

"I'm sorry," the mumbled reply was heard as Iruka avoided Kakashi's gaze and looked at the floor.

"Don't be. Just stop panicking, alright?"

"Okay, I'll try," Iruka mumbled again as he followed Kakashi to the main hall, trying to act as neutral as possible.

"Welcome to the Umino mansion, Iruka-san and Kakashi-san," a sudden foreign voice stunned Iruka out of his own musing and he raised his head just to hit Kakashi's jaw right on.

"Damn," Kakashi cursed.

"Ouch," Iruka whimpered.

"Your head's durability is definitely quality proven."

"Same to your jaw, idiot."

"Iruka-san and Kakashi-san, if you don't mind please go into the hall now. Our leader has been waiting for quite a while," silently debating to himself whether the clumsy person in front of him was a ninja or not, the person motioned Iruka and Kakashi to enter the main hall.

"Okay," taking a deep breath, Iruka steadied himself as he entered the main hall with Kakashi right beside him.

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"Welcome to Umino Clan," once they entered the main hall, a man sitting far back on a dragon shaped chair greeted them. He had the standard tan skin of every Umino clan's members with the black hair spiking wildly and the lines on his face showed his age. Somehow, the man just fitted right in with the huge golden chair he was sitting on, the various dragon paintings on the wall, the huge vases at the corners and every other Chinese-style decoration in the grand hall.

"Thank you. And you are?" bowing stiffly, Iruka asked even though he already had a good idea who was that man.

"I'm the clan leader, Umino Kuroshi. It is very nice to meet you both. Please have a seat," the man said with his deep voice as he smiled and showed his slightly crooked teeth. Iruka had to say that the man was intimidating. Even when he was seated, one could roughly guess his height with those long and muscular calves under those fitting black pants. The bare chest that showed the criss-crossing scars indicated that the man was strong to survive from those cuts. _"He looks strong and wise. But unlike Sandaime, his wise is more to the negative side," _Iruka mused as he seated himself carefully on one of the expensive looking chairs, Kakashi doing the same beside him.

"Nice to meet you too, Kuroshi-sama," Iruka answered politely and Kakashi just lowered his head, acting as civilian-like as possible.

"I guess I will go straight to the point. Do you have the pendant with you?" leaning back to his chair, Kuroshi asked casually.

"Yes," Iruka nodded but he did not show the pendant.

"I would like to take the pendant now," realising that Iruka was not going to give him the pendant, Kuroshi requested boldly.

"I will give it to you but I would like to know why we were attacked during our way here," Iruka replied as Kakashi just stayed quiet like the civilian he should be.

"About that… Seiryuu, will you explain it to them?" turning to his left, Kuroshi said to the woman who covered all of her body in a beige cape, showing only her green eyes. Iruka and Kakashi could not help but noticed that what she wore resembled Konoha's ANBU team a lot. Seiryuu nodded slightly and started to speak, voice muffled by the cape.

"Umino clan has a reputation to maintain, so we were testing you out."

"What?" unable to interpret what she just said, Iruka looked at her in confusion.

"We need to test your skills as a ninja whether you are fit to join the clan or not. That was why we set a test with time limit for you," without missing a beat, Seiryuu explained further.

"You requested me here and you gave a test without warning? Don't you know I have a civilian boyfriend with me? Are you trying to get him killed? Your people put a sword on his throat!" feeling his temper boiled, Iruka grabbed the hand rests of his seats hard as he grounded out his questions.

"A person will only show his or her best skills during life and death situation, so we applied that concept on you. And you proved to us that you are worthy to join, congratulation," Seiryuu was obviously undisturbed by Iruka's tone as she spoke again in her even and soft voice.

"What if we are killed? Have you ever thought about that?" Iruka was going to stand up and confront her but Kakashi's hand on top of his kept him in place.

"Yes. We did make sure that you aren't killed. You won't make it out alive if we did not go easy on you," Seiryuu said again, looking directly at Iruka and not missing the look of panic that flashed past Iruka's face. Unable to say anything else to counter, Iruka just nodded stiffly and looked away from her.

"We're sorry if we offended you. From now onwards, you are going to be treated like a guest as long as you are in Mist," Seiryuu concluded her explanations with her ever soft voice and she looked at Kuroshi in silence when she was done.

"Iruka-san, we are sorry to make you go through that battle but from now onwards, you are one of us. So make yourself at home," Kuroshi said and Iruka immediately felt the chill on his spine. That man did not give off good vibes. Years of teaching made Iruka's had the best instinct and he always trusted it.

"Kuroshi-sama, here is the pendant you requested," decided to ignore his feeling for now, Iruka took the black box from his flak jacket and handed it to Kuroshi.

"Thank you, Iruka-san. I believe both of you are exhausted from the journey. I'll have someone to show you the way to your room and you can have your rest there," with a wave of his hand, a young boy came in and he bowed to the occupants in the room.

"Kohaku?" once the boy raised his head, Iruka said in surprise. Kohaku grinned at him before he lowered his head again.

"We can save the introduction part it seems. Kohaku, bring our guests to their room and help them if they need anything. Rest well, Iruka-san," with that said, Kuroshi and Seiryuu left silently.

"Hey, good to see you guys again!" right after Kuroshi and Seiryuu left, Kohaku raised his head and beamed at Iruka and Kakashi. This made Iruka frowned and he asked curiously, "Why did you act like that just now? I mean like…"

"Well, Kuroshi-sama doesn't like us to speak without permission so…" Kohaku grinned and scratched his head as he left his sentence hanging. When he received no reply but just a quizzical look from Iruka, Kohaku changed the topic and said excitedly, "Come, I'll get you guys to your room! It is really huge, I just saw it!"

Decided not to pry, Iruka nodded as he pulled Kakashi up from the chair, pretending not to hear the complaints about sore legs. "C'mon, let's go!" Iruka grinned at Kohaku as he dragged the whining Kakashi behind him.

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"Finally, this pendant is back to where it should be," looking at the pendant on his hand closely, the man said in his deep voice.

"Yes, beautiful thing. Isn't it?" the pretty woman with long flowing black hair, tan skin and thoughtful green eyes who sat on the man's lap eyed the pendant before she leaned back to the chest behind her and said softly.

"Now we are one step closer to our plan, Seiryuu. And thanks for the cover that you thought of. It actually sounds quite right," putting the pendant back to the box, the man threaded his fingers into the long dark hair and marvelled at the softness of it.

"It didn't sound right at all, Kuroshi. Luckily we sent those soft-hearted ones to attack them, it will be really hard to explain if that civilian is dead," Seiryuu said in her soft voice again as she buried her face in Kuroshi's neck.

"If they realised anything, we can always eliminate them," Kuroshi replied casually as he played with Seiryuu's long hair.

"You're evil," Seiryuu pouted but she laughed at Kuroshi's next comment.

"You're worse."

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"W-Wow!" Iruka stared at the room, his eyes impossibly wide. Kakashi was putting his palms under Iruka's chin stealthily and that earned a puzzled look from Kohaku.

"I'm going to catch his eyeballs in case they fell out from their sockets," Kakashi whispered to Kohaku and that made Kohaku choked as he tried to stifle his laughter.

"What's so funny?" Iruka asked when he saw the constipated look plastered on both Kakashi's and Kohaku's face. Kakashi sighed in relieve as he managed to stuff his hands back to his pants pocket in time and look innocent. Kohaku was not as lucky because he choked and coughed until his tears streamed out like a waterfall.

"You are weird," decided to ignore the two weirdos behind him, Iruka turned around and continued to marvel in the beauty of the room. The Chinese-style room was painted in a light beige paint and the red light from the lamps made the whole room glowed in a romantic red glow. The whole room was carpeted and a beautifully crafted large desk was placed at the far corner of the room, right beside the huge window with beige curtain that allowed sunlight to filter in, enough to light up the room but not enough to make it too warm. There was another door at the corner and Iruka was taking a wild guess that was the bathroom. And the bed, the huge bed which was two times the size of a usual double bed, placed in the centre of the room with half transparent red curtains around it, completed with the red pillows and blanket arranged nicely on top of it was enough to make Iruka drooled. Not to mention the paintings and decorations in the room that made the room looked like some kind of ancient China royalty's room.

"I can live forever in this room, believe it," Iruka said quietly to himself, unintentionally quoted his dearest student's line.

"Believe it. He won't die without food," Kakashi said sarcastically to Kohaku and both of them had to stifle their laughter again.

"I heard you," Iruka muttered darkly, careful to keep Kakashi's family name to himself.

"Alright, I will go and get you guys some food. You might want to take a shower first. The bathroom is over there at the corner. Clothes are available in the wardrobe, feel free to wear them. See you guys in a while," Kohaku said as he pointed at the direction of the bathroom before he left.

"Well, this is impressive," Kakashi shut the door after Kohaku left and commented as he took a good look around him. Iruka was not so subtle as he kicked off his sandals and ran across the room towards the bathroom.

"Oh my god, Kakashi! The bathtub is huge!" once he opened the bathroom door, Iruka pointed inside and said excitedly, making Kakashi smiled at his childlike reactions.

"Go take a shower. We'll have a lot to talk about later," throwing Iruka's canvas bag to its righteous owner, Kakashi started to strip and change after Iruka closed the bathroom door behind him.

"_Well, guess I have to look for any implanted device in this room first."_

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A/N: Sorry that it takes me longer and longer to update. I was hoping to update one chapter per day but that seems impossible now. I'll try to update as fast as I can, promise. =D Nothing flashy in this chapter but I hope you all enjoy it. Drop me a review please? Big thanks to those who did.


	15. Chapter 15

Living in the Mist (Chapter 15)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

"_I can't find a thing. They trust us this much huh? And why is Iruka taking so long?" _snooping around the room, Kakashi looked for any implanted device but he could not find any. The shower had been running for quite a while and Kakashi actually needed to use the bathroom, right now. His whole body was sticky and smelly with all the sweating plus bleeding and his hair did not even look like hair anymore.

"Iruka, are you using the bathroom or are you building it?" getting more and more impatient, Kakashi yelled as he seated himself on a chair. No response was heard from Iruka except the still running shower and Kakashi's brows knitted together to form a frown. Tentatively, Kakashi walked across the room and knocked on the bathroom door while calling out Iruka's name repeatedly. However, he still did not receive any reply from Iruka.

"Don't kill me when I barge in and see you naked," Kakashi muttered as he slammed his shoulder hard on the bathroom door causing the hinges of the door came loose and the door fell down to the floor with a loud crash. The steam in the bathroom cleared gradually and the blurry shadow of Iruka was slowly visible through the half transparent shower curtain. Kakashi's heart skipped a beat and that was not because of a naked Iruka.

Chanting Iruka's name like a mantra, Kakashi pulled on the shower curtain desperately as his calm resolve slowly shattered to pieces. At the second he saw Iruka, head dipping forward with wet brown tresses covering most of his face, a sword cutting through him then embedded into the shower tiles, blood gushing out unstoppably from the wound but washed away quickly by the shower, Kakashi could only did the first thing that came to his mind, he screamed.

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"Kohaku, did you hear that?" putting the dishes onto the tray, Kiyoko asked when she thought that she heard something.

"I'm not too sure but I think it came from the guest rooms' direction. We are heading to that section anyway, perhaps we can check it out later," Kohaku answered mildly as he too was setting up a tray carefully.

"Hnn."

"Don't even bother to answer if you are going to say a single syllable thing, Hiraku. And being a quality control officer standing there doing nothing doesn't help either," flashing an annoyed look at Hiraku, Kohaku said before he continued his job.

"Shut up!" Kiyoko yelled as she accidentally knocked over a cup of tea while Kohaku was talking.

"Who? Hiraku?" looking at Kiyoko innocently, Kohaku tilted his head and asked.

"No, idiot. You shut up," this did it as Kohaku zipped his mouth immediately after Kiyoko glared at him while Hiraku smirked in satisfaction at the corner of the room.

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"Junko…" before Akio could even finish his sentence, Junko grabbed his forearm and pulled him up from his sitting position roughly.

"C'mon, we got to go," Junko said simply as both of them started to race towards the direction of the guest rooms. Junko could recognise the voice of that heart wrenching scream and that piece of knowledge did not make the whole thing any better. _"I'm sure that's a scream from that Kakashi guy, Iruka you better be okay."_

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"_Shit, shit, shit, shit… Why can't I use my fucking chakra right now?" _Kakashi thought as he slowly pulled the sword out of Iruka's chest. He was supporting Iruka's body weight with one of his arms while the other worked slowly on the sword. Any wrong move from him could get Iruka killed and he was not too fond of visiting the memorial stone with the name Umino Iruka carved on it. The second Kakashi regained his composure, he immediately searched for a pulse and he was relieved when he felt the slight beating under his fingertips on Iruka's neck. That led to what he was doing right now, namely extracting the sword from Iruka's body without incurring further injuries on Iruka. His screaming just now must have alerted some people so he could not risk healing Iruka with his chakra right now. They would both be killed if anyone found out about their covers. What he hoped was people would arrive soon and get him a fucking medic.

"_How come I did not sense any presence back then?" _Kakashi mused as he set a limp and profusely bleeding Iruka down on the bathroom floor carefully. He was going to figure a way to stop the bleeding when a kick connected with his gut without any warning causing him to double up in pain. The attacks did not stop there as a series of furious punches and kicks were delivered to him. A trail of blood trickled down the side of Kakashi's mouth and his eyes watered even though he did not want them to.

"What the fuck did you do to him?" Junko hissed venomously as she unsheathed her katana with her bloody hand and pointed the tip at Kakashi's face. She was terrified by the horrible stench of blood even before she entered the room and once she saw the bloody condition of Iruka, she lost her control and attacked Kakashi before Akio could do anything.

"S-Save h-him," not bothered to defend himself from Junko's accusation, Kakashi looked at Akio who just entered the room pleadingly and gritted his request despite the pain that coursed through every single cell in his body.

"I've got it. Junko, move your katana. It's not him," kneeling beside Iruka, Akio extended his healing vein and gave a look of authority to Junko, making her reluctantly moved her katana away from Kakashi's face. However, her killing intent still lingered around the room in a suffocating way.

"What happened?" Akio asked calmly even though his body was trembling violently due to the strain of using too much chakra at once.

"He went to shower. I called him but he didn't reply, I barged in and saw the sword that pierced through him. I extracted the sword and was going to stop the bleeding but you guys came in," getting his breathing under control, Kakashi explained in simple words while trying to ignore the heavy feeling on his chest when he recalled back the picture of a sword cutting through Iruka.

"I managed to stop the bleeding but that was all I can do. Junko, get the medics now," Akio gave his order as he leaned heavily on the side of the bathtub, his chest heaving from the strain of chakra exertion.

"I-Is he okay?" Kakashi who was still recovering from Junko's attacks leaned his back on the wall as he looked worriedly from Akio to the limp and lifeless Iruka. That was not a smart move as his vision blurred and his head hurt even more than before.

"Think so. Did my best and have to leave the rest to…" a shrill scream and a loud crash cut off Akio sentence effectively. Standing at the bathroom door were the three teenagers, going to deliver some food and the bloody condition of their guests was definitely not the best welcome for them.

"Akio? K-Kakashi-san, what happened? Are both of you alright?" Kohaku was the first to recover and asked the question in a quiet whisper while Hiraku was busy comforting the now sobbing Kiyoko.

"Kohaku, get Kuroshi-sama here now," before Kakashi could answer, Akio said urgently to Kohaku. "Hiraku, get Kiyoko out of here. Stay with her until she calms down," once Kohaku left, Akio looked at the pair and said softly. Hiraku nodded as he gently pushed Kiyoko out of the room, his hand clasped tightly with hers.

"She never gets use to blood, especially blood of those she considers as friends. She is too kind," Akio said to Kakashi once the pair left the room, a hint of fondness in his ever polite tone.

"All of them are," Kakashi said in an understanding tone as he too, could recognise Kiyoko as a kind person from just one look. This was the same for both Kohaku and Hiraku. Years of ninja's life taught Kakashi to how to look at people in depth and kids were especially easy to read.

"Yeah," letting his eyes slipped close, Akio dipped his head back and rested himself while Kakashi tried his best to stay awake, never tearing his gaze away from Iruka.

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"I want to know what happened, now!" Kuroshi yelled once he arrived at the room. The sheer volume of his voice immediately woke Akio up from his rest and he managed to summon up his strength to explain briefly what happened to Iruka. The medics who were working on Iruka rushed in and out of the room, their hurried footsteps were the only noise besides the conversation between Kuroshi and Akio.

"Who on earth dare to trespass the Umino mansion!" Kuroshi roared as the vein on his forehead bulged and pounded dangerously. All of the occupants in the room dropped silent. However, Seiryuu who was standing beside Kuroshi in her usual cape was not even marginally disturbed by the temper outburst as she gave orders to the medics in her soft voice, breaking the silence.

"Why are you so sure that it wasn't Kakashi who did this?" Junko asked Akio quietly as she crouched beside him along with a medic who was channelling his chakra to Akio.

"You're so angry that you didn't even notice the other chakra trail besides Iruka-san's chakra," Akio said as he flashed a disapproving look playfully to Junko.

"God damn, you're right," ruffling her own hair exasperatedly, Junko sighed as she sat down. "Better apologise to that handsome when the medic is done with him."

"Akio, Junko! Find out that person!" a sudden roar cut off the conversation between Akio and Junko and both of them nodded affirmatively at their orders. With that, Kuroshi stormed out of the room with Seiryuu followed behind him silently.

"I'll go around the mansion first. Join me when you're up to it," Junko patted Akio at his shoulder and leaped out of the room from the window once their leader left.

"Please work faster. I've an order to carry out," Akio said politely to the medic as he watched Junko left the room.

"Yes, Akio-san."

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"_Damn, everything hurts again… Why do I always have to wake up like this?" _Kakashi complained to himself as he woke up silently, not moving a single muscle and keeping his breathing regular. That was when he realised the ever present antiseptic smell was off. _"I'm not in Konoha hospital… Iruka!" _once Kakashi's brain registered the whole event, he opened his eyes and started to trash frantically as he could not really move his whole body except his arms.

"Sedative!" a voice rang out as Kakashi felt his arms were pinned by another set of stronger arms. He managed to steady himself, stopped his trashing and attempted to talk. He was not really successful though. _"Damn, why do I have to sound like a frog again?"_

"Kakashi-san, you have to stop talking. Iruka-san is fine. He is on the bed beside you," a soft voice murmured comfortingly at him as the hold on his arms loosened. "He is stable, forget the sedative," the voice said again and Kakashi silently thought that medics were very nice people and they must be treated with respect before he drifted to sleep again as all his strength left him.

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"Any luck?" Akio asked as he landed silently beside Junko on the rooftop.

"No, the chakra trail simply disappeared right here," Junko said in defeat as she toyed with her katana idly.

"I can't find out anything more either. The chakra is from someone we can't recognise, there is only one chakra trail which means that the person came in alone and the chakra appeared out of nowhere in the bathroom and disappeared here," Akio sum up their findings and made a rough conclusion as he sat down on the rooftop.

"Just how on earth the chakra trail appeared and disappeared like that? Is it teleportation?" sitting beside Akio, Junko placed her katana on her lap and drew her knees up.

"If that is teleportation, the person must have a great amount of chakra and precise chakra control. It's not that easy to teleport to a certain spot and if the range is far, the jutsu consumes more chakra than an A-rank jutsu. And we know that Umino mansion is far from small."

"Geez, this is really irritating. How about the sword?" knowing that teleportation was not a very big possibility in this case, Junko resorted to their other clue.

"I passed it to Hiraku. He is good with weaponry so perhaps he can tell us something about it."

"Good choice. How's Kiyoko? I heard that she…"

"Hiraku was with her. She should be fine in a day or two so don't worry," smiling slightly, Akio looked up at the night sky contently as he thought about the three kids that he cared about so much.

"Great to hear that. I wish she will never get use to blood. I want her to be like how she is now," Junko said quietly as she looked at her own palms, a hint of sorrow in her voice.

"We should stop slacking off," noticing the slight change of emotion in Junko's voice, Akio changed the topic as he stood up and prepared to investigate the mansion all over again.

"Yeah, I definitely don't want to be at the receiving end of Kuroshi-sama's anger," Junko joked as she stretched out like a cat, sighing in content when she popped some knotted joints.

"I will go and find Hiraku tomorrow morning at eight. Join me?" laughing at Junko's comment, Akio said.

"Sure," with a confirmative nod from Junko, both of them leaped to different directions and disappeared in the dark.

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A/N: I'm so hungry right now… I really should revise on my one meal per day plan. Enough with my ramblings, new chapter! Thanks to those who reviewed, you guys made my day. Till next time, review please? ^^


	16. Chapter 16

Living in the Mist (Chapter 16)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

"_Someone's calling me…" _Iruka thought as the repeated calling of his name slowly woke him up from his sleep. His pounding head and aching body did nothing to make him feel better. The familiar smell of antiseptic told him that he was in a hospital again. Getting irritated, Iruka turned his head away from the source of sound but a pair of hands landed on his forearm and shook him gently. _"Leave me alone…" _squeezing his eyes tighter, Iruka tried to ignore the disturbance but that person was doing a very good job at disturbing him.

"What?" cracking opened an eye, Iruka said in annoyance. However, the look of sheer relief on that face melted most of his anger and he changed his tone of voice as he whispered quietly, "Kakashi?"

"Good that you are awake. I was so worried back then," gently rubbing Iruka's hand, Kakashi dipped his head forward and closed his eyes when he felt an on-coming migraine. He really should not get out of bed.

"What happened? Are you alright? You're really pale," grabbing the pale hand, Iruka asked worriedly with a frown between his brows.

"Say that to yourself. Don't worry, I'm fine. Do you remember anything?" still closing his eyes, Kakashi said weakly as he squeezed Iruka's palm in reassurance.

"I was attacked…" Iruka said with his eyes wide in a sudden realisation. "They want the pendant Kakashi!"

"Hold on, who?" Kakashi opened his eyes and turned to look at Iruka but regretted his actions immediately as his vision blurred and the wall tilted to the left out of a sudden.

"Sound."

"We already know that but this is the vicinity of Mist. They're alliance. Are you sure about this Iruka?" shutting his eyes again, Kakashi asked.

"The hitai-ate, I'm sure," Iruka said as he recalled back the string of events that happened yesterday.

"Alright, tell me everything you remember," leaning back on the chair, Kakashi took a deep breath and rubbed at his own temples to soothe his headache.

"I was taking shower when I felt a chakra appeared behind me and a sword was pressed to my throat. That person asked for the pendant and I asked him who was he. He pressed the sword harder on my throat without replying and I told him that the pendant was not with me anymore. He did not say anything but when I turned to look at him, he slammed the sword into my chest and I couldn't remember the rest," Iruka summarized the whole event and told Kakashi briefly what happened.

"Who was it?" Kakashi asked in his normal tone of voice but his tense posture gave out that he was actually angry.

"The steam obscured my view but I saw the hitai-ate and the grey hair," Iruka said and as an afterthought he added, "Sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" tilting his head to the side for a bit, Kakashi asked as he tried to relax his tense shoulder. _"Grey hair and from Sound… Could it be Kabuto?"_

"Uh, I was careless and I got hurt and uh, you're angry," Iruka mumbled as he fiddled with the blanket, breaking eye contact with Kakashi.

"You're getting better at reading me but I wasn't angry at you so don't worry," chuckling slightly, Kakashi said.

"What happened to you? You've got bandages all over," pulling Kakashi's arm towards himself, Iruka changed the topic as he examined the arm carefully.

"Junko," Kakashi answered plainly, enjoying the contrasting look of concentration on Iruka's childish face.

"She did this?! But why?" looking at Kakashi disbelievingly, Iruka asked.

"She thought I hurt you. She cares a lot about you," Kakashi said, his eyes crinkled into happy little crescents.

"Oh," Iruka looked at Kakashi and muttered unintelligently as he did not know how to response.

"Kakashi-san, why are you out of bed? Iruka-san, you're awake!" a foreign voice disturbed their conversation and both of them turned to look at the nurse standing at the doorway.

"Maa, I'm worry about my honey," Kakashi flashed his signature smile to the nurse and linked his fingers with Iruka's.

"O-Okay, but you have to go and lay down on your bed now," the nurse said, trying to sound as strict as possible although she was blushing furiously.

"Yes, yes," Kakashi slowly got up from his seat and hobbled back to his bed as the nurse started their check-up session.

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"Hiraku, are you sure about this?" Junko asked, looking intently at the sword on the table.

"Yes."

"Akio, how is this possible?" Junko whispered with her gaze fixated on the sword.

"Hiraku, explain," Akio asked and sat down in front of the table, linking his fingers under his chin.

"This is a double-edged katana," Hiraku started to explain.

"Double-edged? I thought a katana is always single-edged," Akio looked at the sword on the table in fascination and said.

"No, there is double-edged katana but it is not popular. A double-edged sword is usually known as a tsurugi but it should be wider so this is definitely a katana," putting her own katana on the table, Junko compared among the two swords as she thought silently, _"I know only one person who crafts double-edged katana. This is bad."_

"Junko is right and this is a handmade katana," Hiraku explained further after agreeing with Junko.

"I noticed that too. There is visible grain on the steel of blade, which can only be formed from a sword smith forging the blade using multiple folds. Is there any signature on this blade?" applying her knowledge about katana, Junko examined the sword thoroughly as she asked Hiraku.

"Look at the hilt," Hiraku answered quietly.

"Oh shit," one look at the hilt of the sword, Junko placed the sword back down on the table as she ran her fingers through her hair and sighed.

"What is it?" looking at Junko and Hiraku in turns, Akio asked curiously. He was not an expert of swords but he knew how to read Junko's expression well. Her current expression was showing that something was really bad.

"This is from Sound," Junko sighed again as she confirmed what Hiraku told them earlier.

"Are you sure?" Akio asked in disbelief. Their alliance just sent someone to sneak into their mansion and almost killed one of their guests. This was going to make Kuroshi so angry.

"Yeah. Sword smiths usually leave their signature on the hilt of the swords they crafted and I happened to know this signature. This guy makes swords for Sound only. I tried to purchase katana from him before but he said his swords are only for Sound," Junko explained.

"We should inform Kuroshi-sama," standing up, Akio grabbed the double-edged katana and said.

"Uh, I don't even want to imagine his reaction. Thanks, Hiraku," Junko mumbled as she took her katana and placed it back to her waist.

"We'll get going first. Thank you for your work, Hiraku. Take care of Kiyoko," nodding slightly at Hiraku, Akio left the room with a gloomy Junko followed right behind him.

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"What?!" Kuroshi bellowed.

"We are sure about the sword, Kuroshi-sama but it may be stolen from Sound," Akio answered steadily. He was too used to the temper outburst of his clan leader.

"How dare they?! Seiryuu, get Byakko here! You two, anything else?" Kuroshi roared his orders and as usual Seiryuu was not even slightly affected by his volume. She just nodded and left the room silently.

"The chakra trail appeared suddenly in the bathroom and disappeared right at the rooftop of the building adjacent to the guest rooms building. We're suspecting that it might be a teleportation," Akio continued his explanation, his ears ringing from the sheer volume of Kuroshi's voice.

"Alright, go and get information from Iruka-san. Report to me once you are done," finally calming down for a little, Kuroshi lowered down his volume as he assigned another task to Akio and Junko.

"Yes, Kuroshi-sama," Akio and Junko answered simultaneously before they bowed and left the room.

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"Byakko, Kuroshi-sama is asking for you," Seiryuu repeated as she stood in front of a shoji board, observing the two men who were totally absorbed in their game and obviously ignoring her.

"Seiryuu, do you want to bet who will win?" an energetic voice came from the red-headed guy sitting on her left. His long red hair distinguished him from the rest of the Umino clan but he still owned the beautiful tan skin. He toyed with his hair idly with his long and sharp fingernails while talking to Seiryuu cheerfully.

"Bet me, I won't lose to this dumbass," a gruff voice came from a huge man sitting on her right. He was not wearing any top and that showed his muscular chest and the various scars on his broad torso, especially the one that slashed right from his throat to his navel. His white hair was spiking wildly and his upturned eyebrows made him look fearsome.

"Checkmate! Now who's the dumbass," the red-head dipped his head back and laughed. The white haired guy was pulling at his hair in exasperation as he could not find any opening to counter the move.

"Countered," Seiryuu soft voice rang out and the red-head immediately stopped his laughing to look at Seiryuu with his eyes wide.

"Not fair! Damn it!" the red-head pointed an accusing finger at Seiryuu and yelled.

"Checkmate again," another voice rang out, cutting off the red-head's yelling efficiently. An old man with a wise appearance sipped his tea as he made a move for the red-head. His grey hair was tied back neatly into a bun and his beard was so long that it almost reached his chest. He looked at Seiryuu with a slight smile on his face as he took a sip from his cup again.

"Nice move, Genbu but checkmate," Seiryuu took off her cape and smiled back at the old man.

"Good one, Seiryuu! Kick that old man's ass!" the white haired guy slapped Seiryuu's back none too gently and that earned him a glare from Seiryuu instantly.

"Genbu, c'mon! Don't tell me you'll lose to her!" the red-head looked at Genbu worriedly as Seiryuu sat down and took her place.

"I won't, Suzaku. She is wise but too young," Genbu replied as he took his place and countered Seiryuu's move easily.

"Am I?" Seiryuu replied softly as she too made her move on the shoji board.

"Byakko, I thought we were playing. Why are we the outsiders now?" elbowing the huge man with white hair, Suzaku scratched his head and asked.

"Damn it! They took our game again!" Byakko roared in realisation that Suzaku and he just handed their game to the other two.

"Yes, we did. Byakko, go and find Kuroshi-sama in the main hall now. He wants to see you and tell him that I'll be back in a second," Seiryuu said, concentrating on her game.

"Alright, alright! Damn you two!" Byakko sighed as he took his coat from the floor and placed it over his shoulder. "I bet on you Seiryuu, better don't lose!" Byakko yelled before he walked away.

"I bet on you, Genbu! You lose and I'll cut your beard into a heart shape!" Suzaku said as he too leaped up from his sitting position and ran after Byakko. "Damn it! Wait for me, dumbass! I'll go with you!"

"Well, shall we continue in peace?" Genbu asked Seiryuu after the two energetic fellows left.

"Yes. I'll definitely beat you this time."

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"Iruka-san, Kakashi-san, how are you feeling?" Akio asked as he entered the hospital room with a basket of fruits on his hand.

"Akio-san, we are fine. That's really nice of you to visit us," Iruka sat up slowly and leaned on the headboard when he saw Akio came in. Kakashi sat up too and he smiled at Akio while nodding his head slightly.

"Hi, Iruka-san, Kakashi-san," Junko who came in a while later said her greetings as she scratched her head in embarrassment. "I'm sorry for my actions, Kakashi-san," she looked at Kakashi apologetically and said after she sat down.

"It's alright," Kakashi smiled at her and gently shook his head.

"We'll go straight to the point then. Iruka-san, we need to know what happened to you," Akio sat down beside Junko and asked boldly. Iruka nodded in understanding and started to explain what happened all over again.

"Are you sure about the hitai-ate?" Akio asked when Iruka finished his explanation.

"Yes."

"How about the grey hair?"

"Yes but I can't see the face though. I think that person teleported into the bathroom because his chakra just appeared out of a sudden. I couldn't even respond in time," Iruka added.

"We suspected that as well but you do know that a precise teleportation is not so easy to be done right?"

"I know but I think that's the only reasonable explanation," Iruka said after Junko.

"Alright, thanks a lot for the information. I think we'll take our leave now. Rest well," Akio said as he stood and prepared to leave.

"Rest well and I'm really sorry, handsome," trailing behind Akio, Junko grinned cheekily at Kakashi before she left.

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"They said is Sound too," Junko whispered to Akio right after they shut the door of Iruka's hospital room.

"Yeah, this is bad. Kuroshi-sama won't like this," Akio said gloomily.

"He asked for Byakko-sama for god sake. He must be really angry if he asks for someone of that calibre to deal with this," Junko replied.

"Looks like the Four Generals will participate in this," Akio added thoughtfully and sighed.

"This is going to be so bad. Let's go and report now," Junko muttered as she dragged her tired body towards the direction of main hall with Akio walking on her side in the same pace.

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A/N: New chappie! Thanks for those who reviewed. *hugs* Seiryuu, 青龍 – green dragon, Byakko, 白虎 – white tiger, Genbu, 玄武 – turtle and Suzaku, 朱雀 – red sparrow. Review please? I love you all.^^


	17. Chapter 17

Living in the Mist (Chapter 17)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

"Kuroshi-sama, you asked for me?" Byakko entered the main hall and said to the fuming Kuroshi. The spiking chakra told him that Kuroshi was not in a good mood. Even the energetic Suzaku knew how to keep quiet in this situation.

"Yes, take a seat, both of you," resting his forearms on his chair's armrests, Kuroshi said. When both Suzaku and Byakko were seated, Kuroshi continued, "Do any of you know about the assault on Umino Iruka?"

"Umino Iruka, the traitor's son?" Suzaku blurted. He had heard about Iruka's arrival but he did not see him in person before and the next thing he knew, Iruka was attacked in their mansion. Byakko did not say anything but he shook his head, signalling that he did not know anything about it.

"Yes, that's the guy. He arrived with his civilian boyfriend yesterday and he was attacked in the bathroom. Akio and Junko are investigating about this," Kuroshi explained.

"So, what do we have to do with this?" getting straight to the point, Byakko asked.

"According to Junko and Akio, Iruka's assailant most probably is someone from Sound," looking at Byakko and Suzaku, Kuroshi said in a serious tone.

"How dare they?" Suzaku spat venomously as his killing aura flared. His blood red eyes narrowed and he gripped hard on the armrests of his chair until a crack was heard.

"What do you want me to do?" unaffected by the suffocating killing aura radiating from Suzaku, Byakko asked Kuroshi calmly.

"We have yet to confirm the whole thing with Iruka but once we're done, I want you to find out who did this and give them a piece of my mind," Kuroshi said darkly as his own killing aura slowly mingled with Suzaku's. "Byakko, be prepared. You're going to Sound very soon."

"Do we need to inform the Daimyo?" after a moment of silence, Byakko asked.

"Daimyo? We're the powerful one here in the Land of Mist," Kuroshi said as he smirked cockily. It was foolish of Byakko to ask that question as all of them knew that the Daimyo of Mist was under the control of their clan.

"Looks like I'll be heading to Sound very soon," Byakko replied after he heard the expected answer. He was going to said something else but a sudden chakra flare made him gripped the handle of his tachi tightly as he released his own chakra. The hall was immediately filled with different chakra that mingled together, making it hard to breathe. However, Kuroshi and Suzaku were not ordinary people as both of them remained seated calmly without reacting to Byakko's chakra burst.

"I don't think so," a voice rang out as a person walked in with steady strides. The smoke from teleportation slowly cleared to make the person's face visible.

"Kabuto, don't you know how to knock?" waving his hand dismissively at Byakko, Kuroshi said when the grey-haired man entered the hall. The air around them flowed better at the instant Byakko stopped releasing his chakra.

"Very nice to see you again, Kuroshi-sama," Kabuto bowed and greeted, not bothering to answer Kuroshi's question.

"I Asked, Don't You Know How to Knock?" Kuroshi roared and allowed his chakra to spike wildly just to show how angry he was. How dare a mere follower of Orochimaru ignore his question and infiltrated his mansion twice? He was wondering before why the chakra trait of the assailant felt familiar to him and now his suspicion had been confirmed, the one who trespassed his mansion was Orochimaru's underling, Kabuto.

"My apologies, Kuroshi-sama," Kabuto bowed again half-heartedly. He did not fear for Kuroshi at all but he guessed that he should show some respect if he wanted to get something from Kuroshi.

"Learn your place, Yakushi!" Kuroshi did not lower his volume as he yelled at Kabuto.

"I'm sorry Kuroshi-sama but I came here for a reason," not affected by Kuroshi's yelling, Kabuto calmly stated as he found himself a seat right across Suzaku. His statement received no reply from Kuroshi so he continued, "Orochimaru-sama sent me here to get the pendant from you."

"What?!" Suzaku snarled and reached for his lance but Byakko's hand on his wrist stopped him. Kuroshi seemed calm but Byakko and Suzaku knew that was just the momentary peaceful moment before the storm struck. Besides, the wildly spiking chakra already gave out that Kuroshi was pissed.

"Kabuto, I won't give the pendant to you. If you want to leave the mansion in one complete piece, I suggest you to leave now," Kuroshi leaned back to his chair and said. He did not even want to ask whether Kabuto was the one who attacked Iruka because he already knew that it was him. He was giving Kabuto a chance to escape before his temper got the better of him and made him ordered someone to kill Kabuto. He still wanted the peace treaty between Mist and Sound to remain intact, preventing things from getting complicated.

"Kuroshi-sama, I won't leave without the pendant," Kabuto stated calmly, never breaking eye contact with Kuroshi. His order from Orochimaru was to get the pendant from Umino clan at every cost, including breaking the peace treaty between Mist and Sound.

"Then leave our mansion in a few pieces," Kuroshi snarled and Suzaku rose from his seat instantly while whipping out his lance and released his chakra in a burst, all the while wearing a maniacal grin that contrasted with his pretty face.

"Suzaku, go out and fight. Don't mess up the place," not bothering to stop Suzaku this time as Kuroshi had already given an indirect order, Byakko said in an off-handed tone. Suzaku smirked, placed his lance over his shoulder and said cockily to Kabuto, "Shall we go out and play?"

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"Akio, did you feel that?" Junko asked in a quiet whisper. They were on their way to the main hall to meet with Kuroshi when they felt the continuous chakra bursting of the assailant, Byakko and Suzaku.

"The one we need to catch is here but it seems that Suzaku-sama is confronting that person," Akio said as he analysed the situation.

"If Suzaku-sama is fighting that person…" Junko started to say but Akio cut her off.

"We should stay as far away as possible from the battle. You know how Suzaku-sama fights," Akio said seriously as he turned around and headed to another direction.

"What if that person gets away?" Junko asked while she followed Akio's large strides with small jogs.

"If the person can get away from Suzaku-sama, we won't stand a chance against that person," Akio replied without looking back.

"Yeah, you're right," Junko agreed as both of them walked away from the main hall.

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"Kakashi, did you feel that?" propping his upper body up with an elbow, Iruka whispered.

"If you are talking about the horrendous chakra burst, then yes," Kakashi replied as he too propped himself up from his bed. "The amount of chakra released is so huge that even I can feel it in this state."

"Yeah, I know. The assailant is here."

"Are they fighting with each other?"

"Most probably but I don't think the fight has started yet."

"Iruka, can you feel anymore chakra traits?"

"Well, Kuroshi is there, the two unknown people with crazily large amount of chakra and the assailant. These are the chakra traits that spike wildly right now so I think they are the ones who are going to fight," Iruka stretched his senses and analysed the chakra before giving Kakashi his answer.

"I see," Kakashi said simply as he limped to Iruka's bed, leaned close to Iruka and whispered, "I'm going to break the seal and snoop around the mansion to gather information. Their chakra should be strong enough to conceal mine. We need to tell Gai our situation as well."

"Kakashi, are you crazy? You're injured!" Iruka said in a hushed tone, trying his best not to yell at the crazy jounin beside him.

"Once I break the seal, I can use my chakra and that will help," Kakashi replied quietly, not exactly arguing because he would do it no matter what Iruka said.

"Fine, what do you need me to do?" Iruka huffed angrily. He knew he was no match with Kakashi in deciding what to do on this mission so he would try his best not to be a liability.

"Stay here and pretend to sleep," Kakashi said cheerfully as he fished in his pants pocket for the packet of pills.

"No," Iruka deadpanned and started a glaring competition with Kakashi.

"I'll be fine by myself and you are too weak to move. Stay here," Kakashi ignored Iruka's protest completely as he took out one of the pill and proceeded to pop it into his mouth. He was stopped by Iruka's hand on his wrist.

"Ask for help if anything happens. I have some soldier pills with me so we can at least try to fight our way out if we blew our cover," Iruka said quietly as he stared into the pair of dark orbs. As expected, Kakashi smiled merrily at him while extracting his wrist from Iruka's grasp.

"I'll be fine, mother hen," with that said, Kakashi propped the pill into his mouth and Iruka immediately felt the familiar chakra slowly radiating from Kakashi. He must admit that Kakashi was doing a great job at suppressing his own chakra because even if he was in the same room, he could only sense Kakashi's chakra mildly.

"Why do you still look the same?" after a moment, Iruka asked curiously as Kakashi's look remained the same even after the seal was broken.

"I didn't release the henge. I'm too shy to show you my face," Kakashi joked as he pretended to blush, hiding his face between his palms like an embarrassed girl and starting to make all sort of girly noises softly. Iruka was struck speechless and he could only stare at Kakashi disbelievingly. That man could do anything just to get a reaction out of him.

"Fuck off. Go and snoop," Iruka whispered in annoyance at the smug look plastered on Kakashi's face. Kakashi just smiled and made a few hand seals to create a clone of himself. He then nicked his thumb and summoned Pakkun after a quiet whisper of Kuchiyose no Jutsu.

"Brat," Pakkun greeted. If he was curious about what happened to both Kakashi and Iruka, he did not pry.

"Pakkun, I need you to transfer information to Gai," Kakashi said and Pakkun nodded his confirmation. "Tell Gai our exact location. We were attacked by the clan on our way here but they claimed that it was just a skill test. The clan leader name is Kuroshi and someone by the name of Junko claimed that she is Iruka's dad adopted daughter. They took the pendant from us already and Sound wants the same pendant as well. Iruka was attacked by someone from Sound because of that. We're not sure about how strong the clan is but as you can see, they have at least two very strong members with them," Kakashi said everything in one go while Pakkun just nodded and memorised all the information given to him.

"Is that all?" after Kakashi finished talking, Pakkun jumped to the window and asked.

"Yeah, get the message to Gai and you can dismiss yourself," Kakashi answered and Pakkun jumped out of the window swiftly without any more words. Kakashi walked towards the door and right before he went out, Iruka's soft voice rang out, "Be careful."

"I will," smiling warmly at Iruka, Kakashi closed the room door silently and left.

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"You're not getting away!" Suzaku laughed as he charged at Kabuto, spinning his lance wildly with his single left hand. His long red hair was flowing freely behind him and the suicidal expression plastered on his face did not cope well with his delicate features.

"I'm not going to run," Kabuto said calmly as he dodged Suzaku's advances. He knew that one hit from the lance would cause a serious injury and he was not willing to risk it. He needed to attack but Suzaku's stance was so perfect that he could not find a single opening to strike.

"You can do better than that, Yakushi! Don't disappoint me!" Suzaku yelled and charged once again. He thrust his lance repeatedly at Kabuto but Kabuto was quick to evade all of his attacks.

"I won't," Kabuto replied slightly out of breath as he tried to hide the strain on his body for moving too fast. He realised that he was no match for Suzaku but he was in an advantage because Suzaku was underestimating him. He could win if he could think of a good strategy to land a few hits on the lance expert.

"Fight back then, Yakushi!" Suzaku was obviously enjoying the fight as he swung his lance with complete mastery. Kabuto was evading all the attacks with the help of chakra so that his speed would be on the same par as Suzaku who was not using any chakra to fight. Swiftly, Kabuto formed some hand seals and a blue glow slowly formed on both of his palms.

"Yes, that's it! Fight back and stop defending already!" sensing the change in Kabuto's chakra and noticing the glowing palms, Suzaku said excitedly. He wanted to have more fun before he sliced his opponent into pieces. It had been too long for him to fight an opponent whom he was allowed to kill. His sparring partner was always Byakko and he could not kill his own ally now, could he?

"You'll regret this," Kabuto muttered under his breath as he extended his left arm towards Suzaku's abdomen. As expected, Suzaku lowered his lance to block the blow and Kabuto immediately shot out his other palm towards Suzaku's face. Suzaku was fast to react as he blocked the blow easily with his right arm, all the while laughing maniacally.

"Too slow, Yaku…" before Suzaku could finish his sentence, he held onto his right arm tightly as he cursed under his breath. "What did you do, Yakushi?!"

"I cut some of your muscles," smirking arrogantly, Kabuto leaped back a few steps to prepare for his next attack.

"Chakra scalpels, I see. Impressive," Suzaku released his right arm, allowed it to hang uselessly against his body and started to laugh again. "Cutting the inner muscle with chakra without making any visible outer injury. Brilliant. However, you can't aim for vitals during a fight because that will need too much concentration. That's why you cut whatever you can reach instead."

"You figured it out," Kabuto replied calmly as he once again focused his chakra on his palms. Going back to Orochimaru without the pendant was not an option at all. He had to get the pendant.

"Shall we start again then? I'll treat you properly this time."

"Please do."

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A/N: Uh, this chapter is so hard to write. Tachi is a huge sword. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and please drop me one for this chappie as well! ^^


	18. Chapter 18

Living in the Mist (Chapter 18)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

Kakashi moved stealthily in the mansion, all the while suppressing his chakra at a minimum level. He could sense people moving around not far away from him but he always found some ways to hide before anyone could actually see him. _"The only good point of a very big mansion, I can hide easily," _Kakashi mused to himself as he sneaked past two happily chatting teenage girls easily. He had been wandering in the mansion for quite a while now but he could not find anything suspicious, except for the fact that Umino clan was indeed very rich. The exaggerated decorations in the halls and well designed gardens that he passed by made the whole mansion looked surreal. Kakashi was going to slip past another building when his sensitive hearing picked up some familiar voices which were muffled by the walls a few rooms away from him. He could not risk stretching his chakra right now so he focused on sniffing the scent instead. His lips lifted into a slight smile when his hound-like sense of smell did not fail him. He could recognise the scent. Silently, he leaped onto one of the branches of a shady tree in the garden and eves dropped on the conversation that was going on in the room.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, almost everyone in the mansion is talking about this!"

"But it's impossible! Kuroshi-sama did not take any action! Heck, he did not even mention anything about it!"

"That's the weird part. Usually by now, he will be ordering everyone to find out the culprit, chop him or her to pieces and feed the remains to his summon."

"_Okay, something is definitely going on in the mansion. Kuroshi's summon huh? I wonder what it is," _Kakashi thought as he leaned back to the bark for a more comfortable position while continue to listen to the conversation without much difficulties.

"Are you sure they really disappear just like that, without any trace?"

"_Disappear?"_

"Geez, how many times do I need to repeat this? I am sure!"

"Do you even have any evidence? Don't simply believe every rumour you heard."

"Okay, do you know that girl with the super short brown hair working in the kitchen?"

"Yeah, she makes really good tempura. I can't remember her name though."

"_Eww, hate tempura…"_

"Alright, she disappeared three days before. No one can find her, she just gone like that. And soon after, another girl, the tiny one with the pig tails, you guys know her?"

"Yep, she works in the kitchen too. What's up with her?"

"She disappeared too. Again, no trace and no one can find her. They reported this to Kuroshi-sama but up until now we haven't hear anything about it. Don't you guys think it's weird?"

"Definitely weird but we better don't pry."

"Are they the only two who disappeared?"

"Well, that's the two I'm sure of. I know lots of people who work in the kitchen. But from what I heard, they are not the only ones. There are more."

"This is creepy. What exactly is happening?"

"I don't know but we better take good care of ourselves. Like stick together all the time. In case someone wants to abduct one of us, we still can put up a fight. I don't want to end up disappearing like them."

"You're right. Hmm, I'm hungry. Who wants some food?"

"Me! Me!"

"Let's go and grab some together. The stick-together-at-all-time plan, remember?"

"Oh right. Come, let's go!"

Kakashi's lips curled up in a lazy smile as he watched the trio walked out of the room excitedly, discussing about what food they were going to get later. He was sure that the kids never noticed his presence all along. After all, their skills were not up to par to be able to sense his presence. _"So the people in the mansion are disappearing. Kuroshi knows that but he doesn't take any action. Interesting… and troublesome," _Kakashi thought silently as he leaped down from his hiding place when he was sure that no one was around. _"Now I have one more thing to figure out."_

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Kabuto was panting heavily, his chest heaving with every attempt to draw in enough oxygen for his strenuous movements of dodging Suzaku's ferocious attacks. Even with his right hand injured, Suzaku was still able to handle his lance in complete ease with his left hand and the attacks never stopped for even one second. Things were getting real messy for Kabuto and he needed to figure out something fast if he did not want the lance to pierce a cavity right through him. In a desperate attempt, Kabuto threw a few kunai at Suzaku but as expected, all the weapons were deflected effortlessly.

"Yakushi! Where is your confidence from just now huh? You need to do better if you want me to fight you seriously!" Suzaku yelled with an arrogant smirk on his surprisingly red lips for a man. He was just starting to have some fun after his right arm was injured but now Kabuto was on the verge of losing again. Kabuto did not answer as he dodged another attack but he was not so lucky this time because the sharp end of the lance sliced his shirt open and left a shallow cut on his shoulder. He let out a pained grunt when the scalding pain on his shoulder spread out and reached every nerve end of his body causing him to lose his footing and fell down to the hard floor.

"_What's with the lance? This is just a shallow cut but the pain is indescribable," _Kabuto hissed and furrowed his brows in pain when he pressed his palm hard on his shoulder and let his healing chakra flowed steadily into the wound. Suzaku stopped his attack and looked at Kabuto with mild interest while placing his lance over his shoulder.

"You can heal a wound from my lance this quickly… Impressive," Suzaku praised sincerely without any trace of sarcastic tone as he observed Kabuto's healing ability with his head tilted to the side curiously. Byakko and Kuroshi who were watching the match in the hall were getting impatient but they knew that it was their own fault. They should have known that if they let Suzaku fought, they would have to wait until Suzaku had enough fun before he decided to defeat or kill his opponent.

"Your lance…" Kabuto panted as he slowly regained his breath. He knew that something was different with that lance but he could not make out what was it. A simple lance would not have caused such pain from a single shallow cut nor would the cut be so difficult to heal. The cut from the lance had taken more chakra to heal than an ordinary cut. So what was so different about Suzaku's lance?

"If I tell you now, it's no fun anymore. You try to figure it out," as if he could read Kabuto's mind, Suzaku said in an offhanded tone without waiting for Kabuto to finish the sentence. His slanted pair of blood red eyes crinkled slightly at the end when he smiled at Kabuto. His feminine features looked absolutely harmless and breathtaking right now but Kabuto knew better. Suzaku was strong, very strong. The fact that Suzaku did not use any chakra during the whole fight was enough to certify his statement. He could only land one hit on Suzaku and after that Suzaku never let his guard down, not even once.

"Are you done? If you are, we can start round three," getting no reply from Kabuto, Suzaku continued. _"This is getting boring. I can't even show off my Ninjutsu without killing him. He is pretty good as a medic or side fighter but not as a solo fighter. I should end this before Kuroshi-sama decides to kill Kabuto himself and peel my skin next for wasting his time," _Suzaku mused and let out a humourless dry laugh at his own thought, earning him a quizzical look from Kabuto.

"You don't need to be so angry at me even if I don't tell you the secret of my lance," Suzaku pouted and ruffled his own long hair when he received no reply from Kabuto again. This time was the same too because Kabuto just looked at him silently with a contemplating look and poised in an offensive posture.

"Fine, fine. Let's end this," Suzaku muttered as he too crouched offensively, facing Kabuto with an obviously bored expression on his pretty face.

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After the little eves dropping session, Kakashi continued his snooping without much luck. He had been walking around the mansion forever without getting any new information. His left eye was kept closed all the while to prevent chakra drain. The mansion was pretty normal if one ignored the abnormally huge size and the exaggerated design of the mansion. The occasional chakra spikes told him that the fight was still going on. It was the best for him not to join the fight if he did not want to get caught. That was why he stayed as far away as he could from any strong chakra signal so that he would not run into any strong ninja and to prevent those strong ninjas from sensing his presence.

"_Kuroshi and the other two who burst their chakra when I was in the hospital room. Now plus these two stable but really strong chakra signals I sense. Means that if we blew our cover, we need to fight at least five people with this amount of chakra. Bad," _Kakashi thought and sighed. He did not have any confidence to win if he had to fight these people all at once. Kakashi was stunned out from his own musing when he heard a set of footsteps came closer and closer to his direction. With practice ease, he slid into one of the rooms which door was slightly opened after he made sure that the room was empty. The footsteps passed by the room that he was in after a while and slowly faded when that person walked away. Kakashi sighed in relief and that was when he sensed a weak flicker of chakra. Getting into his full alert mode, Kakashi immediately opened his left eye and scanned the room with his Sharingan but he was not able to see anyone.

"_Chakra… I'm sure there are some chakra signals right here but no one is in the room. So where?" _with his Sharingan widely opened, Kakashi scrutinized every single object in the room. When his gaze reached the small vase of artificial flowers on a wooden table right in the middle of the room, his eyes widen and he reached for the vase carefully.

"_A seal. I should be able to break this," _tracing his fingers slightly on the seal which was only visible under his Sharingan, Kakashi thought silently. He knew this kind of seal fairly well. It was one of those seals which were usually used to seal a door or an entrance. There was obviously a hidden entrance in this room but first he needed to deal with the seal.

"_This seal recognises a specific chakra but as long as I can disrupt the seal, it is possible for me to break it with my own chakra,"_ with that thought set, Kakashi channelled his chakra steadily into the seal through his fingertip as he tried to disrupt the chakra left by the creator of the seal. Once he felt the slight disruption of the original chakra in the seal, Kakashi immediately nicked his finger and drew another seal on top of the original one with his blood.

"_I'm really a genius," _Kakashi smirked in satisfaction when he saw the seal he drew slowly mingled with the original one and finally only one seal could be seen. Slowly, he channelled his chakra into the new seal once again and grinned when the seal faded under his touch. Once the seal was completely gone, a soft click was heard and Kakashi turned his head to the source of the noise just to notice one of the books on the bookshelves had moved out from its original position. Carefully, Kakashi pressed the book back to place after he made sure that the book could bring him no harm. A low rumbling sound caught Kakashi's attention and he raised his brows in surprise when he saw the bookshelves shifted to the side, revealing a dark path behind.

"_Well, a secret tunnel. Just how cool is this?"_

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"Genbu…" Seiryuu looked up from the shoji board and fixed her gaze at Genbu worriedly.

"I know. Don't worry, just continue the game," sipping his tea, Genbu answered calmly. He knew what was Seiryuu going to ask and he was not bothered by it at the slightest.

"If you say so," Seiryuu replied softly and she concentrated on her game once again. She wanted to win that old man so badly because she had never ever won a match with Genbu as her opponent. She could easily beat Suzaku and Byakko but that was not something to be proud of because those two were being categorised as brainless in her mind.

"That person may have succeeded in breaking my seal, may have succeeded in going into the secret tunnel but I can assure you, that person won't come out alive," Genbu said calmly as he brushed his beard thoughtfully while studying the shoji board.

"Who knows what scary things did you do to that place?" Seiryuu laughed softly as she made her move on the shoji board after a long while of thinking.

"You'll know when I ask someone to collect the corpse from there tomorrow," Genbu replied and moved one of his shoji pieces instantly without much thought. "Checkmate."

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A/N: Okay, I'm officially a Suzaku fan. He is so pretty in my imagination!!! I know I'm weird. XD Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Drop me one more for this chappie? ^^


	19. Chapter 19

Living in the Mist (Chapter 19)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

"_The Genjutsu should be able to display the illusion that no one entered the room before," _Kakashi thought as he stepped into the tunnel carefully after he casted a Genjutsu in the room, making everything seemed to be in place before he came in. The dark tunnel was a challenge to his vision but his extraordinarily sensitive senses were proven to be more than helpful in such a condition. Kakashi took each step cautiously as his nose picked up the familiar scent of blood surrounding him. The steep staircases that headed down were messily built and Kakashi had to thank Gai once again for the intense Taijutsu trainings that provided him with a good balancing ability and a great stamina. His journey was going on smoothly until he reached the end of the staircases. Kakashi was fairly sure that he was at least a few metres underground by now, judging from the coldness of the air around him and the height of the staircases before. However, he was facing a problem now as the road diverted into two different paths in front of him.

"_This is really troublesome…" _Kakashi scratched his head as he slowly stretched his chakra to sense which path was closer to the weak chakra flicker he felt. Once he made his decision which way to go, he made a few hand seals with practiced speed and whispered under his breath, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." His clone appeared in a puff of smoke instantly at nodded at him, expressionless. Kakashi nodded back and pointed his forefinger to the path on the left. Without any hesitation, the clone went into the dark path. Kakashi watched until his clone disappeared from his sight completely before he took the path to the right with steady strides.

"_The chakra signal is getting nearer… And there are more than one chakra signal," _Kakashi analysed the chakra traits he felt as he moved carefully in the dark tunnel, getting nearer and nearer to his destination. He was thinking of all kind of possibilities about the chakra signals but his train of thoughts was cut short by the sudden pain that stabbed him on his entire body, making his whole frame trembled violently as cold sweat dripped down his temples. _"Shit, what happened?" _extending a hand to the wall to support his body, Kakashi gulped in mouthful of much needed air as his knees slowly gave out under him. He could only blink dumbly at the empty dark path ahead of him as his clone's memories were transferred back to him, bits and pieces of events flashed past his eyes like a slide show.

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"What happened?" Iruka patted Kakashi's clone's back and asked worriedly as the clone struggled to inhale as much air as possible. Both of them were engaged in a glaring competition once Kakashi left and they had not uttered a word to each other until now. Kakashi's clone annoyed expression was replaced by one of intense pain and Iruka could do nothing besides patting his back comfortingly and coaxed him to breathe.

"What did you see?" once the clone's breathing was back to normal, Iruka asked directly. He was making a wild guess that Kakashi had created another clone and that clone must have encountered something until it was dispersed and brought back the memory of intense pain. He needed to know what happened to Kakashi.

"Tell me what happened," Iruka said again, this time with his strict teacher voice because the clone refused to cooperate with him.

"I don't know," the clone muttered as he looked at the floor and avoided Iruka's gaze. However, Iruka was not giving him an easy way out as his chin was grabbed roughly and he was forced to meet Iruka's piercing gaze once again.

"Don't give me this shit. I know how kage bunshin works. Now tell me what happened," Iruka said darkly as he tightened his hold on the clone's chin. He knew he was hurting the clone but he was sure that he would start breaking things if he did not keep his hold on the clone's chin. His heart was thumping wildly against his ribcage and he could do nothing to make it under control, not even by taking deep breaths. _"Even though a clone is only forty percent as strong as the real one, but forty percent of Hatake Kakashi is more than enough to beat most of the ninjas out there… Just what could possibly happen to the clone?"_

"I don't know," not bothering to hide his suffering, the clone's grabbed onto Iruka's wrist in protest as he whimpered, voice laced with slight pain. Iruka's infamous temper struck.

"I'm telling you to tell me what happened and you're going to do so. You hear me?" Iruka gritted each word in a devastatingly slow manner to emphasize his point. He gripped harder on the clone's chin despite the resulting pained look and the protesting grip on his wrist. He was getting impatient and normally he would have yelled at the clone with his maximum lung capacity. However, the venue here did not allow him to do so therefore he opted to another way of showing his anger. Iruka knew that the clone could fight back easily but it must be Kakashi's order that he must not be injured under any circumstances. Therefore, the surprisingly gentle hands on his wrist that did not hurt him in any manner were not a huge surprise for Iruka.

"Don't go after the real me and I'll tell you," the clone whispered solemnly as he loosened his grip slowly and lowered down his hands. Iruka nodded and released the clone's chin as he sat back to his bed and gave his full attention to what the clone going to say next.

"The real me is in a secret tunnel now. He created another clone to take a path because there were two ways to go. The clone was wiped out by some traps," the clone explained briefly, skipping off details in his explanation. Iruka did not buy this though.

"I want details. Continue."

"The other clone was careless."

"Don't challenge my temper. I want details," Iruka hissed in venom when he felt his temper boiled again as Kakashi's clone cleverly avoided his question with some brief outlines of what happened.

"The traps were deadly, he was careless. End of story," this time, the clone did not back up as he hissed back with equal venom, two pairs of dark orbs meeting each other in an intense staring session.

"Fine," Iruka broke the staring contest first as he slowly stood up and patted on his pants pockets messily. He was glad that they were admitted into Umino clan private hospital because they were allowed to wear their own clothes even if they were in the hospital. He never really liked the idea of backless clothing. However, Iruka did not get a chance to finish what he was doing because his back was suddenly on the bed again and he had a very furious looking clone on top of him. A knee found its way between his legs and a pair of strong arms landed at both sides of his head. Iruka was completely trapped.

"You said you won't go after the real me," the clone said quietly but one could easily extract the anger that came along with the seemingly calm tone.

"I didn't say anything about that. Now let me go," Iruka struggled for a bit but stopped once he felt the pain that followed with his action. He needed to go after Kakashi right now. At least he could be some help if he consumed the soldier pills. Besides, traps were his specialty. Surely he could help Kakashi in some ways. He would not let Kakashi faced all the dangers alone.

"You nodded," the clone argued.

"Let me go before I make you," not bothering to argue back, Iruka looked straight into the clone's eyes and warned. His hands were reaching for his pockets again in order to locate the pills but were stopped by another set of hands atop of his. The clone did not say anything else but the firm hold on his hands told him that there was no room for argument in this matter.

"Alright, I won't go," Iruka whispered in defeat after he made up his mind, turning his head to the side and letting his long dark tresses covered part of his face messily. He knew that he would not win an argument against Kakashi, and now he knew that he could not even win against Kakashi's clone.

"Really?" the clone asked in an excited tone of voice, the anger that laced his voice earlier melted instantly.

"Really," Iruka replied softly like what he usually did to his kids. The clone was very happy to hear that because he gave Iruka a wide toothy grin before he leaped off from Iruka and trotted back to his own bed humming some unknown tone cheerfully. That was when Iruka finally realised that the clone and he were in a very compromising position a while before and that caused Iruka to blush a dark shade of red unbeknown to the happy clone.

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"_There are traps like that in here? This is bad," _Kakashi thought as he leaned heavily against the wall, his laboured breathing slowly went back to normal. The memories of the clone were not a great sight to look at and the experiences of the clone were even worse to be felt first hand. _"I wonder why they set such horrible traps on that side of the route but none on mine_."

Kakashi shook his head slightly to clear his mind from the pain and fear he felt a while back. He needed to be on full alert before he could start moving again. Taking a deep breath, he straightened his back and headed towards the direction of the chakra once again when he felt that he was ready. Kakashi continued to walk for some time but his journey was going on far too smooth for his likings and that actually unnerved him.

"_This is weird. I didn't encounter any traps until now. Oh…" _Kakashi stopped abruptly in his path as the view of an underground prison entered his sight. The weak chakra signals radiating from that direction told Kakashi that he was in the right place. Instinctively, he stretched his senses again to sense for any danger that may be lurking around. When he made sure that there was nothing that was strong enough to harm him, Kakashi made his way into the prison. The first thing that greeted him when he first entered the prison was the bloodied state of the prisoners in there. The prison was not big but there were quite a number of prisoners that were held in different cells in the prison. All of them were chained to the wall and there were obvious blood crusts on the chains, some in dark red colour and some in brown. _"So this is the reason I smell blood…"_

"S-Save m-me…" a broken whimper caught Kakashi's attention as he turned his head to the source of the voice. There, he saw a girl with short brown hair that was covered in dirt and grime, her small body was badly beaten and blood was dripping down from unhealed wounds. One look at her was enough for Kakashi to relate the girl to the one that worked in kitchen and disappeared out of a sudden. As an afterthought, Kakashi scanned around the prison and he was not surprised when he spotted a tiny girl in another cell located at the far end. He could not make out whether the messy hair he saw right now was once being tied into pig tails but his instinct told him that she was the other girl whom he heard about.

"Hold on, I'm getting you out," turning his attention back to the barely conscious girl, Kakashi said reassuringly, his voice softer than usual. However, before he could do anything, another voice cut in.

"Don't," the owner of the hoarse and barely audible voice said. Kakashi stopped his action once he heard the warning. Narrowing his eyes, he looked at the skinny old man who appeared to be the one that warned him.

"Don't open any cells. There are traps," the old man spoke again, his voice getting weaker as the sentence went on. However, Kakashi paid no attention to what the old man spoke because the tiny glittering dog tag hanging around the old man's neck had caught his full attention. His Sharingan easily pick up the name that was carved on the old, worn tag.

"_This is impossible... He is supposed to be dead…"_

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A/N: Read and review please, thanks. *fell asleep* … *wakes up* Jynx-Umino-Hatake, Suzaku has both arms but he showed off by using one only to handle his lance. Hope this clears things up for you. =) *went back to sleep*


	20. Chapter 20

Living in the Mist (Chapter 20)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

"Who are you?" the old man asked hoarsely. Kakashi chose not to answer though. He still could not contemplate why the name that was engraved on the memorial stone showed up in a place like this.

"You're not from the clan," the old man continued when he received no reply from Kakashi. Kakashi was shocked but he did not show any change of expression. Years of ninja training told him not to give out the slightest hint to his probable enemy. "Do you know the name on the tag? You're staring at it all the time."

Kakashi was surprised when he found out that the old man noticed his action but he carefully kept his expression neutral. The old man however, chuckled briefly with his weak voice before he said, "If you know this name, you should know that I'm a Konoha ninja. It's not that surprising if I notice your extra attention on my dog tag."

"Who are you?" looking straight into the old man's eyes, Kakashi asked boldly.

"Written on the tag," the old man answered, meeting Kakashi's gaze. When Kakashi did not say anything, he continued, "Yamanaka Ryuichiro."

"_Yamanaka Ryuichiro, how could I not recognise this name? But he was supposed to be dead on a mission in Mist. Wait, could it be that he is held captive at here all this time?"_

"Young man, what are you thinking now?" the old man chuckled again when he noticed the slight widening of Kakashi's eyes but this time his action was followed by a series of violent coughing. Kakashi looked at the man who proclaimed himself as Yamanaka Ryuichiro sceptically as he thought in silent, _"If he really is who he claims to be, then Ino's grandfather is alive. The man who blamed my father for saving him is alive."_

"You should start thinking of a way to get out. From your unscathed state, I assume you did not encounter any traps on your way in. But you won't be so lucky because the traps in the prison are designed specifically to capture the intruder alive," Ryuichiro said again, not bothered by the fact that he was the one that did all the talking.

"What do you mean?" clearing his personal feelings, Kakashi asked. The old man's identity could be figured out later but the priority now was to get information from the injured girl and get back to Iruka.

"Look at both sides of the prison entrance," tilting his head to the direction of the narrow entrance that led into the prison, Ryuichiro said. Following the movements of the old man, Kakashi shifted his gaze to the entrance and instantly blamed himself for not being more careful just now. There were two well-hidden seals at the very bottom of the entrance, near to the floor. Being an experienced ninja, Kakashi recognised those as heat and chakra detecting seals instantly. The seal would not go off if it recognised a particular chakra trait, in this case, the caster's chakra. The seal worked as a heat detector as well. It would not go off the first time an object with heat passed through but when the second time this happened, the seal would be activated. It was a common seal used in prison because they wanted to capture the intruder unprepared. Kakashi cursed under his breath.

"Not bad for you to notice that so soon once I pointed it out," Ryuichiro said. His voice took a merry tone despite his larynx terrible condition. "Tell me who you are."

"What are they doing to these prisoners?" ignoring Ryuichiro's request, Kakashi asked. The girl who asked him for help had long ago fainted during his conversation with Ryuichiro and he silently cursed the old man for that.

"Tell me who you are first," knowing that he had the advantage over the situation, Ryuichiro requested again in his merry tone. As an afterthought, he added, "I know you're not supposed to be here boy. No one other than Seiryuu, Genbu and Kuroshi came in here before."

"_Who is Genbu? This old man is sharp. As expected from the Yamanaka."_

"Not telling? Alright, I should get some sleep now. I'm not as young as you, I get tired easily," the old man drawled lazily as he leaned back to the wall behind him.

"_Maybe I should leave first and discuss this with Iruka… But I can't risk keep coming back here." _

"Seeing the fact that you're almost as good looking as I was when I was young, I should tell you something," Ryuichiro continued his one-sided conversation, cutting Kakashi's thoughts half way.

"I'm honoured. Please do," smiling at Ryuichiro, Kakashi retorted.

"There is a junction which separate into two ways after you walked in the tunnel for some time, right?" Kakashi nodded and the old man continued, "The way you took leads you to this prison and the way you did not take leads to a pendant."

"_This guy knows about the pendant?! This explains the scary traps over there."_

"Ah, I like to see when your eyes widen slightly but you keep your expression stoic. You look funny," Ryuichiro laughed and coughed when he saw the expression he anticipated for. "Now tell me who you are and I'll tell you what I know about this clan. Sounds fair?"

Kakashi kept quiet as he weighed the pros and cons of revealing part of his identity to the old man. The only thing that showed that the old man was indeed from Konoha was the dog tag and nothing else. He could not just believe in someone like that, could he?

"I'm a Konoha ninja that was sent to spy on Umino clan years ago. I managed to collect some information before I get caught and thrown into jail. Do you want to hear about the information?" without waiting for Kakashi's reply, Ryuichiro placed his bait again.

"_Konoha sent a spy here so many years back? Why Sandaime never informs us about this? Is he really from Konoha?"_

"Look at the side of my left arm," Ryuichiro said as if he could read Kakashi's mind. Kakashi on the other hand knew what he was going to see there if the man was really someone from Konoha. Peeking into the cell, Kakashi inhaled deeply when he spotted the unmistakable swirling shape of the tattoo. This man was indeed a Konoha ninja, a Konoha ANBU in fact.

"Kakashi."

"Your name?" Ryuichiro asked and Kakashi nodded. He did not fail to notice the sorrow in those light coloured eyes when he mentioned his name.

"I was sent here to spy on the Umino clan because something that happened years ago. The clan wants a pendant, specifically a chakra sucking pendant. The pendant is going to summon something, I don't know what, when it's fully charged. These people here are supplying the chakra to the pendant," Ryuichiro got straight to the point and said. He knew he should not give so much information to someone that revealed his first name only but he knew his life was near the end. He had to risk this.

"_Iruka's parents came to Konoha with the pendant. Sandaime sent someone to spy on the clan and the person happened to be Ryuichiro. However, he got caught and never came back so Konoha pronounced him dead. The clan wants the pendant because it can summon something and to summon it they need to feed the pendant with chakra. So this leads to the disappearing people in the mansion. The pendant only reacts to an Umino chakra trait so they have to use their own people. Bingo."_

"You sure like to think a lot young man. I hope that you're thinking a way to get out without getting caught," Ryuichiro said when he saw Kakashi was deep in thought again.

"I've figured something out and thanks for the information," looking at Ryuichiro, Kakashi replied sincerely as he casted a layer of ice on his knees and below. Soon enough, his lower half of legs were numb and icy cold. Looking over at the old man one last time, Kakashi walked towards the direction of the entrance and leave. However, unexpected for both of them, a surge of fire that took a dragon form rushed towards Kakashi's direction once he stepped past the entrance. That was when he noticed he failed to spot the seal hidden at the ceiling. The entrance was too narrow for him to dodge so Kakashi instinctively focused his chakra on his right palm and his pure white chakra gathered at his palm instantly, forming a dangerous crackling sound. The second Kakashi cut through the fire dragon with his raikiri, he heard Ryuichiro whispered in disbelief, "You're Hatake…"

"_So he really did know my father," _Kakashi thought as he formed raikiri once again to cut through another fire dragon. He was suddenly glad for the fact that the attacks were designed to capture the intruder alive because they appeared to be weaker. Kakashi did not get a chance to catch his breath after two successive raikiri because arrows were flying towards him right after he overpowered the fire dragons. Forming the familiar series of hand seals, Kakashi leaped backwards and sent his giant fireball towards the arrows, burning them into ashes. However, what he did not expect was the grip on his right ankle after he landed. Swiftly, he raised his left leg just in time to dodge another set of cuff aiming for his left ankle.

"_Shit, they're trapping me in," _Kakashi cursed when he saw the thick bars being lowered down not far away from him. He needed to get out from this narrow part of the tunnel to escape. He was somewhat sure that the bars would be decorated with all kind of seals that would complicate things later if he did not escape now. Kakashi forcefully pulled his right leg up hoping to break the cuff but he was rewarded with a sharp pain shooting up his leg instead. The lack of power in his movements made him realised that the cuff was absorbing his chakra. He needed to break the cuff, fast. Knowing that brute force was not going to do him any good here, Kakashi directed his chakra at his right ankle and when he thought he had collected enough, he released it in a burst and that successfully broke the chakra absorbing cuff.

"_Good thing I've quite a good amount of chakra reserve. That thing couldn't handle that much of chakra at once," _Kakashi thought and slid past the bars just in time before the bars embedded themselves into the hard floor. Wasting no time, Kakashi suppressed his already low chakra and rushed out from the tunnel while casting a henge that made him looked uninjured. The second he leaped out from behind the bookshelves, Kakashi dispelled the Genjutsu and proceeded to channel his chakra at the seal located at the vase. A low rumbling sound was heard when the bookshelves moved to their original position once again.

Nicking his thumb, Kakashi drew another seal that cancelled his interference on the original seal. When his chakra was not accepted by the seal anymore, Kakashi knew that his work was done there and he headed back to the hospital trying not to limp too much.

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"_I'm going to die… I'm going to die," _Kabuto chanted mentally as he tried to heal himself from the various injuries he sustained from Suzaku's attacks. The unbearable pain was making his movements clumsy but it kept his mind clear. However, a clear mind certainly did not help much right now because he was barely able to stand. His legs were wobbling and he knew that he would not be able to dodge those lethal blows from hitting his vitals any longer. He was stunned out of his personal thoughts when he caught a glimpse of light reflected by Suzaku's lance from the corner of his eyes. Instinctively, Kabuto tried to dodge but he was surprise when he saw Suzaku pierced his lance into the ground instead of attacking him. Kabuto grabbed this chance and threw some poisoned senbon at Suzaku.

"Ox, Tiger, Horse, Dog…" not bothered to dodge the attack, Suzaku closed his eyes and started to make hand seals all the while chanting the seals that he formed. The lance glowed in a fiery red colour instantly and the senbon directed at Suzaku were melted before they could even reach him. Kabuto who felt the heat radiating from the lance immediately backed away but his legs betrayed him at this very crucial moment.

"Fire of the Phoenix," Suzaku whispered and opened his blood red eyes once he finished the last seal in the series. The red glow on his lance flared and a surge of fire taking the form of a phoenix charged towards the immobile Kabuto in a blur of speed and heat.

"_I'm really going to die…" _Kabuto thought as he looked helplessly at the beautiful yet lethal Ninjutsu casted by the equally beautiful and lethal ninja. Closing his eyes, he expected the burning heat to consume all of him but a familiar chakra flare made him opened his eyes in surprise. Kabuto was not able to see anything because his sight was completely blinded by the sunlight reflected by the huge water dragon that defended him from the fire. The phoenix clashed with the dragon and Suzaku forced more of his chakra into the jutsu trying to gain the up hand. However, his opponent seemed to be stronger than him and he was forced to cancel his jutsu right before his chakra ran out.

"That wasn't very nice of you," a voice drawled offhandedly once Suzaku's attacked was stopped and the water dragon was dispelled.

"What are you doing here?" Kuroshi asked and glared at the newcomer that teleported into the mansion. Seiryuu and Genbu were right beside Kuroshi with Byakko standing behind them with his dachi unsheathed. Suzaku was panting heavily, using his lance as a leverage to prevent himself from dropping to his knees due to chakra exhaustion. The newcomer looked around him and smirked before he finally spoke.

"Couldn't let my follower die like that now, could I?"

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A/N: My butt hurts again. I HATE long flights. Thanks for those who reviewed last chapter. Here's a new one. Enjoy!

Jynx-Umino-Hatake, you're drawing Suzaku? Can I have a look at it? Please, please? *excited*


	21. Chapter 21

Living in the Mist (Chapter 21)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

"Kakashi?" Iruka whispered once he saw Kakashi slid into the hospital room silently. He must admit that he was surprised by Kakashi's presence because he could not sense anything before Kakashi came in.

"Seal my chakra, fast," pulling up his shirt, Kakashi said urgently. Iruka nodded as he swiftly formed the necessary hand seals and nicked his thumb before he drew the seal on Kakashi's lower back. He then placed his palm over the seal and channelled his chakra into the seal steadily. The seal worked instantly as Kakashi's clone disappeared in a poof once Kakashi's chakra was completely sealed.

"Are you alright?" Iruka asked in a worried tone, all the while trying to spot any visible injuries on Kakashi.

"Maa, I'm fine. You did some pretty interesting thing with my clone huh?" Kakashi openly smirked after the clone's memory was transferred back to him. He must say that he was fairly pleased by the blush spread on Iruka's cheeks and ears after the little teasing.

"You and your clone have the same fucking attitude," turning his head away from the grinning idiot, Iruka huffed in annoyance.

"Thank you," Kakashi replied happily and moved to sit on Iruka's bed.

"That wasn't a compliment and get off," pushing Kakashi's shoulder half-heartedly, Iruka retorted.

"Stay like this. I've a lot to tell," Kakashi leaned to Iruka and whispered, not budging from his seat even for an inch. This caught Iruka's attention as he stopped his action instantly and nodded.

"Your chakra…"

"They're having a huge commotion out there. You must've sense it too. Their chakra should be able to conceal mine," without waiting for Iruka to finish the sentence, Kakashi reassured Iruka with his reply.

"But your chakra trail…" not convinced by Kakashi's reassurance, Iruka asked again.

"By the time they finish the commotion out there, my chakra trail would've disappeared completely. I kept my chakra at minimum level all the time except when I was in the dungeon."

"Dungeon? What dungeon?" Iruka asked, trying to keep his volume low despite his surprised state.

"I'll get to there. The ends of your hair are burnt," noticing the messy ends of Iruka's hair, Kakashi took a few brown strands in his hand and stated the obvious.

"Yeah, I know. The fireball in the forest, remember? Back to topic," shaking his head slightly in an attempt to free his hair from Kakashi's hand, Iruka said quietly.

"Okay. I overheard a conversation. People in the mansion are disappearing," Kakashi replied as he swiftly pulled out the rubber band from Iruka's hair despite Iruka's protest.

"Don't mess with my hair. What happened to those people?" swatting his hands blindly at Kakashi who sat behind him, Iruka asked.

"Well, after I overheard the conversation, I was wandering around the mansion until I found a hidden entrance to an underground prison," Kakashi took one of Iruka's wrists and slipped the rubber band onto Iruka's wrist as he smoothed out the tousled brown locks. Iruka stopped protesting once he felt the comfortable sensation of someone combing his hair.

"And then?"

"There were two separate ways in the tunnel so I sent a clone to take one of them," Kakashi answered and fished for his dagger in his pants pocket once he smoothed out Iruka's messy locks.

"Your clone got wiped out by the traps right?" leaning his head back slightly, Iruka asked as he closed his eyes at the comforting touch on his hair. The last person who combed his hair was his mother and Kakashi's surprisingly gentle hands on his hair were a perfect mimic of his mum's.

"Yeah and I found a prison. The prisoners in there seem to be those who disappeared," while answering, Kakashi gently took some brown strands in his hand and started to cut off the singed ends with his dagger, letting the spoilt ends fell to the floor.

"They imprisoned their own people?" Iruka asked in disbelief.

"Apparently, yes. I met an old man who proclaimed himself as Yamanaka Ryuichiro in the cell," pleased with the first few cuts on Iruka's hair, Kakashi continued his task as he briefed Iruka with the situation he was in, carefully tucking his emotions away when he mentioned the name.

"Yamanaka Ryuichiro? Ino's grandpa? He's still alive?"

"Think so. His dog tag and ANBU tattoo proved that. He told me that the other way that my clone took led to a pendant," expecting the bombarded questions, Kakashi replied steadily.

"He knew about the pendant?"

"He was sent to spy on Umino clan years ago but he was captured and imprisoned until now. He said that once the pendant is fully charged with chakra, it'll summon something. Those prisoners in there are supplying chakra to the pendant."

"They're using their own people like that?" Iruka tried to turn around but he was stopped by Kakashi's palm on the side of his head, signalling him to stay still.

"I think so. The pendant can only absorb an Umino's chakra. Most probably is like they let the pendant sucks the chakra from the victim and before the victim's chakra is completely depleted, they stop the chakra flow. The victim will then be left in the prison to replenish their chakra and then they will let the pendant does its job again," Kakashi deduced.

"Sounds reasonable. We have to confirm the identity of Yamanaka Ryuichiro though," Iruka agreed.

"I can't go back to the prison anytime soon so this will have to wait. In the mean while, we can try to find out what is the pendant going to summon once it is fully charge. We need to figure out the grass chuunin incidence too," Kakashi said as he recalled back the other event.

"You're right. The grass chuunin, there's suppose to be another pendant right?"

"That's what we deduced back then. We need to find out about that as well."

"Yeah, you're right. So that's all?"

"Yep. But I want to ask Sandaime something though. If Konoha sent someone here so long ago, why didn't he tell us about it?" Kakashi added as he ran his fingers through the brown strands, happy with his own work.

"He must have his own reasons. You can let Pakkun tells Gai next time," Iruka suggested with a sleepy tone. Those hands were lulling him to sleep with the gentle touches.

"I'll do that. I wonder what's happening out there. I sense one more crazily strong chakra."

"You need to rest now. Let them fight. We can pry on this later," Iruka replied with a slight scolding tone but he was not too successful with it when he was on the verge of falling asleep.

"Do you have a hair band? Rubber band is not good for your hair," Kakashi asked as he pulled Iruka's hair back into a pony tail and held it in place with his hand.

"No, I lost mine. Just use the rubber band or leave it like that," Iruka answered absentmindedly.

"Alright. I'll leave it down," releasing his hold on Iruka's pony tail, Kakashi smoothed out the long hair once again with his fingers.

"Go back to your bed. I want to sleep. You should take some rest too," Iruka yawned and rubbed his eyes sleepily as he turned to look at Kakashi.

"Okay, okay," Kakashi drawled lazily and moved back to his own bed while contemplating how young Iruka looked right then with his hair framing his face.

"Thank you and night night," Iruka slurred and curled into a ball, pulling the blanket to his chin before he closed his eyes.

"_Night night? That's cute but its afternoon now. I must make him sleepy again if he is this adorable every time he is sleepy," _Kakashi mused to himself as he watched the sleeping face of Iruka with a smile tugged on his lips.

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"Your follower deserves it, Orochimaru."

"I want the pendant. Will you give it to me?" not bothering to make a comment on what Kuroshi just said, Orochimaru asked mildly.

"No! How dare you send someone to infiltrate my mansion looking for something that doesn't even belong to you?" Kuroshi hissed angrily. Beside him, Byakko was ready to fight with his dachi unsheathed and his chakra spiking wildly. Seiryuu and Genbu who were calmer in their actions just stood quietly with their tense postures.

"I was thinking to take it away from you without letting you know but I guessed it didn't work well," not affected by Kuroshi's temper, Orochimaru replied.

"You're stepping on a dangerous line, Orochimaru! Don't forget about the peace treaty between our countries!"

"Do you seriously think I care about the treaty?" Orochimaru retorted and smirked at Kuroshi's expression.

"How dare…"

"The next time we see each other, we'll be enemies. The pendant shall be mine," not letting Kuroshi to finish his sentence, Orochimaru cut in before he lifted Kabuto and teleported away all in a blur of speed.

"That snake… Byakko! Get Suzaku to the hospital! Genbu, Seiryuu, come with me!" Kuroshi roared his orders as he turned and entered the main hall once again. Byakko slid his dachi back to its sheath before he rushed to Suzaku's side and helped Suzaku to stand upright. Genbu and Seiryuu on the other hand trailed behind Kuroshi quietly and they went into the main hall after Kuroshi.

"You alright?" Byakko asked with his gruff voice and he looked at Suzaku worriedly.

"Who do you think I'm?" Suzaku huffed in annoyance as he tried to free himself from the tight grip on his waist. "I can stand. Let me go."

"No," giving his single syllable reply, Byakko dragged the protesting red head towards the direction of the hospital.

"Bastard," cursing under his breath, Suzaku stopped struggling and let the physically stronger Byakko to manhandle him.

"Why are you getting chakra depletion with just one jutsu from Orochimaru?" Byakko asked curiously. Suzaku was never weak and he knew that. So why on earth Suzaku could barely even stand after clashing his jutsu directly with one of Orochimaru's?

"Fight with that guy and you'll know. He is strong. I could barely stop his water dragon. Perhaps to you it looked like I was attacking but the reality is I was defending," Suzaku said indignantly when he thought back about the battle.

"I wonder why both Kuroshi-sama and Orochimaru want the pendant," knowing that Suzaku was very unhappy with the fight, Byakko changed the subject and said absentmindedly.

"I'm wondering that too. I heard that our guest was considered as traitor because his father took the pendant and ran away from the clan. What's the big deal with the pendant?" Suzaku scratched his hair in frustration as he asked.

"I don't know as well but it must be something important. We should protect it as long as it benefits the clan."

"Yeah, that's our job as guardians of the clan after all. Anyway, did you notice that some people are missing? I mean I haven't seen them for quite a few days," Suzaku asked when he remembered about the weird situation.

"I've noticed this too but Kuroshi-sama didn't say anything so I think everything should be fine. Perhaps they just leave the mansion for some personal occasion," Byakko deduced as he hauled Suzaku up the staircase in front of the hospital, ignoring the angry protests he heard.

"I hate you, bastard!" Suzaku aimed his fist at Byakko's head but his fist was easily caught by a bigger hand. Pushing Suzaku to sit on a chair, Byakko signalled a nurse to come over and take a look at Suzaku.

"Byakko-sama, we'll treat Suzaku-sama right away. Suzaku-sama, please follow me," the nurse looked at Byakko and said after she made a rough check on Suzaku. Byakko nodded and patted Suzaku's shoulder with his big hand.

"Alright. I'll leave him to you," with that said, Byakko left the fuming Suzaku alone in the hospital reception area with a nurse trying hard to make him used crutches to walk.

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A/N: Big thanks to those who reviewed. Hope you all enjoy this one too. Please review. =)


	22. Chapter 22

Living in the Mist (Chapter 22)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

"Seiryuu, how long it takes until the pendant can be fully charged?" Kuroshi asked in an impatient tone. Orochimaru had really pissed him off by teleporting in and out of the Umino mansion as if that was his own mansion.

"With the people we have right now, we still have a long way to go," Seiryuu replied softly, not minding the harsh tone used on her.

"Their chakra reserves are too low and they couldn't even replenish their chakra fast enough for us to carry out round two," Genbu continued, adding details to Seiryuu's comment.

"We need more people," Kuroshi hissed. "More people with higher chakra reserves."

"But this will attract unwanted attention in the mansion. A lot of the clan members are already discussing about the disappearing people secretly," smoothing his long white beard, Genbu said thoughtfully and Seiryuu nodded her agreement.

"So how long do you intend me to wait?" Kuroshi asked in fury even though he knew that Genbu was perfectly right.

"If you want to risk it, we could start capturing more people," leaning back to her chair, Seiryuu suggested in a mild tone as she looked at Kuroshi.

"Seiryuu, you know that's not a smart move. If Byakko or Suzaku realises this, we are in for big trouble," Genbu denied her suggestion instantly. Byakko and Suzaku may be considered as dense people but they would not be that dense until they could not realise the sudden disappearing of people. The protective nature of that two would be a huge trouble for them if they did not do this right.

"But if we manage to charge the pendant with chakra in time, Byakko and Suzaku would not be a threat for us," Seiryuu argued back. She knew what Genbu was worrying about but she agreed with Kuroshi as well. They had waited far too long.

"Do it," Kuroshi finally gave his order after a long while of silence.

"Kuroshi-sama, you might want to…"

"I said do it," before Genbu could finish his sentence, Kuroshi cut in and repeated his order again.

"But Byakko and…"

"Don't question my decision!" Kuroshi yelled and slammed his palms on the desk as he was irritated by Genbu's hesitation.

"Do you have in mind who to start with?" finally giving in, Genbu sighed and asked. He had a feeling that this was not exactly a good choice but Kuroshi was the one in charge so he had to follow the orders given.

"Start with the stronger ones. They have more chakra and if we took them by surprise, we will save a lot of troubles later," Kuroshi replied after he took a deep breath. He really needed to control his temper better.

"The stronger ones such as?" Seiryuu asked attentively.

"Akio, Junko and those with the same rank as them. The younger talented members could be considered as well," putting his hands under his chin, Kuroshi said after he thought for a while.

"Do you mean Hiraku and Kohaku?" this time, Genbu voiced out his question. The two boys were among the most talented young members in the clan. He could not believe that Kuroshi was actually going to use them too.

"Yes, that two and the girl that always sticks to them," Kuroshi replied instantly.

"But they're very talented and they wouldn't stand a chance fighting against us with their skills right now. So why don't we keep them? They will be useful for us in the future," Genbu suggested carefully as he tried to change Kuroshi's mind. He would not allow Kuroshi to waste the living assets of their clan. Too bad for him, Kuroshi was very stubborn.

"When I conquered the five nations, I can get as many talented people as I want to. So stop questioning my decision and do as I say," meeting Genbu directly in the eyes, Kuroshi said in a warning tone.

"Yes, Kuroshi-sama," Genbu replied and he sighed in defeat.

"Good. Anything else?" looking from Seiryuu to Genbu, Kuroshi asked, obviously not bothered by Genbu's disagreement in the whole matter.

"How about Iruka?" Seiryuu spoke as she suddenly recalled that they actually had one more Umino to use.

"Oh, that guy. He is a chuunin right?"

"Yes."

"Use him too. He should be able to give quite an amount of chakra," making his decision, Kuroshi said.

"How about the civilian he brought along with him?"

"Kill him, throw him in jail. Do whatever you want. He's just a civilian," Kuroshi replied in irritation. He was not interested in a civilian who could not provide him with chakra and could not pose a threat to him. So no matter how Seiryuu and Genbu disposed of him, he would care less.

"What should we do if Byakko and Suzaku happened to find out the truth before the pendant is fully charged?" Genbu voiced his concern again. He could notice flaws everywhere in this planning but Kuroshi was too stubborn to listen to him. He could only try to minimize the flaws and make sure that their plan went perfectly.

"Should we deal with them first before they realise anything?" Seiryuu suggested.

"You mean killing them now?" raising his eyebrows, Kuroshi asked in surprise. Seiryuu's cruelness under the soft and kind façade never ceased to amaze him.

"Killing them is a waste. They have the highest chakra in the clan besides the three of us. We could make good use of that," Seiryuu replied, her voice soft as usual. But for Genbu and Kuroshi who understood her deep down, they knew she was nothing close to kind and soft-hearted.

"What do you think, Genbu?"

Surprised by Kuroshi who asked for his opinion, Genbu's eyes widened slightly before he regained his composure and said, "We could leave them for now. They should be useful for us in case Orochimaru decides to visit us again. But once they suspect anything, we will deal with them immediately."

"Sounds good," Seiryuu nodded and smiled slightly at Genbu's suggestion. Kuroshi seemed to agree with Genbu for the first time in the whole discussion.

"Anything else?" finally reaching a mutual agreement, Kuroshi leaned back to his chair and asked lazily. He certainly did not expect an affirmative answer for that question though.

"Someone infiltrated the secret tunnel earlier," Genbu said and before Kuroshi could yell at him, he continued, "My traps must've killed or trapped that person. I'm going to send a bunshin down there tomorrow."

"Your traps better work," Kuroshi said in a dismissive tone after Genbu's reassurance. He knew how deadly Genbu's traps were and no ordinary person would be able to escape from there.

"I'm confident. So when shall we start?"

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"Kohaku, is that you?" Kiyoko asked timidly as she peeked at the slight opening of her window while sitting on her bed. She was sure that she heard something and her window was definitely closed just now. However, she could see nothing except a pitch black slit from her window.

"Who's there?" Kiyoko asked again when her first question received no reply. She was starting to doubt her own guess that Kohaku was playing a prank on her again. Usually by this time, Kohaku would be jumping out of nowhere and scared the hell out of her. Wrapping herself in a fluffy blanket, Kiyoko walked to the window and pushed the window opened just to meet with a pair of green eyes. Shocked, Kiyoko tried to scream but before she could make any sound, a hand landed swiftly on the back of her neck and she lost conscious instantly.

"_That was easy," _the owner of the green pair of eyes eyed the motionless form and smirked. _"If this is what Genbu called as the future of Umino clan, then we're doomed."_

"You're done here?" a deep voice rang out as Genbu slowly materialised in Kiyoko's room with two boys on his shoulder.

"Of course. You're fast," looking at the two teenage boys who were carried effortlessly by Genbu, Seiryuu replied softly.

"They're easy."

"And you called them the clan's future," Seiryuu retorted with a slight curve on her full lips.

"They're still too young. Let's go," lifting Kiyoko up from the floor single-handedly, Genbu argued before he disappeared from the room in a swirl of smoke exactly like how he came in. Seiryuu looked at the empty spot and teleported away soon after.

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Junko was on her full alert even though she pretended to be asleep. She could definitely sense a presence in her room and the person was currently reaching for her. The presence was somewhat familiar but she would not risk a thing. Silently, Junko swiped her hand under her pillow for her kunai and once she reached it, she flung the kunai to the direction of the intruder as she leaped for her katana rested on the table. However, she halted her action when she saw who exactly the intruder was.

"S-Seiryuu-sama! I'm sorry. I didn't know it was you. I'm so sorry," bowing repeatedly to Seiryuu who was clad in her usual cape, Junko apologized again and again.

"Don't be. You're quite fast," swirling the kunai in circles, Seiryuu replied and looked at Junko approvingly.

"I'm sorry Seiryuu-sama. What could've brought you here at this hour of the night?" finally realising her half undressed state, Junko pulled her sleeping robe together modestly and asked.

"Do me a favour."

"Y-Yes?" tilting her head curiously to the side, Junko asked hesitantly. Seiryuu did not reply but instead, her thoughtful green eyes curved slightly as if she was smiling and the next thing Junko knew was the shooting pain on the back of her skull before she fainted.

"Give your chakra to the pendant," Seiryuu answered quietly and dispelled her bunshin before she left the room with an unconscious Junko.

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"_Shit, Junko!" _Akio leaped out from his bed as the kunai below his pillow vibrated violently. The kunai was a pair with the one that he gave Junko a few years back. It was a special made kunai with movement detector in it. So when one of the kunai was used, the other would vibrate to signal the owner that the other person was in danger. All these years, Junko had not even once used the kunai so when Akio felt the vibration under his head, the first thought in his mind was he must get to Junko, right now. Akio was going to leap through the window when he heard the creak from his chair and instinctively, he extended his veins as he turned to face the intruder. He was definitely surprised when he saw the old man with long white beard sitting unceremoniously on his chair.

"Genbu-sama, why are you here?" pulling back his veins, Akio asked in surprise. However, he remembered about Junko and he said in a hurry. "I'm sorry Genbu-sama but I've to go…"

"To Junko?" Genbu smiled and finished the sentence for Akio.

"Y-Yes, she's…"

"She's in danger."

"Yes! Excuse me now, Genbu-sama," Akio replied and leaped out from the window without looking back. Therefore, when he felt his limbs restrained by thousands strands of white hair, he was completely caught by surprise. He could not make any sound as the hair circling his throat was contracting so tightly, preventing him from making any noise louder than a whimper.

"I'm sending you to the same place as Junko. Don't worry," Genbu's deep voice came from far behind him in the room when his limbs were forcefully ripped out of theirs joints. Various popping sounds could be heard and Akio's muffled screams rang out before he passed out due to the intense pain.

"You're sick," a dull thump made Genbu turned around and looked at the body that was dumped on the floor. The owner of the soft voice frowned at Genbu when she saw Akio's state.

"He'll be a threat later if I don't do this," Genbu explained himself as he pulled a limp Akio back into the room. His long white hair was flowing freely out of the confinement of its usual bun. "I'll take them. You continue your job."

Without saying anything, Seiryuu nodded and disappeared from the room once again, leaving her previous prey to Genbu.

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Kakashi woke up at the instant he felt a presence in the room. However, years of ninja trainings made him kept his breathing steady as he pretended to be sound asleep. From Iruka's unmoving form, he knew that Iruka was well aware of the presence in the room as well because Iruka moved around a lot if he was sound asleep. Kakashi forced himself not to tense up when he felt the cool fingers on his forehead, smoothing away stray strands of hair. He was keeping his pretence without much difficulty until the hand strayed down to his throat. Basic instinct of a ninja told him to break the wrist instantly if he did not want to get killed but Kakashi managed not to do a thing as he chanted repeatedly in his mind, _"I'm a civilian... I'm a civilian…"_

After what seemed like forever, the hand finally left him and Kakashi forced himself not to sigh in relief. The presence did not leave the room though. Instead, it was Iruka's turn to be "tortured" by the cool fingers. From Iruka's slightly rapid breathing, Kakashi knew that Iruka was not doing too well. He was thinking of a way to get them out of this mess when a familiar soft voice rang out.

"Stop pretending to be asleep now. I must say that you both did a great job at that."

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A/N: New chappie. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I seriously love you all. 3 Enjoy!


	23. Chapter 23

Living in the Mist (Chapter 23)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

"I believe your name is Seiryuu," Iruka said as he opened his eyes and sat up slowly due to the unhealed injury on his chest. His heart was pounding wildly and Iruka was glad that his voice actually sounded just normal, if not a little hoarse from sleep. Kakashi sat up too as he rubbed his eyes sleepily, pretending to be groggy from sleep.

"You're right, Iruka-san," Seiryuu replied. She was clad in her usual cape and her hip was rested unceremoniously against the bedside table.

"What could possibly bring you here at such hour?" Iruka inquired and Kakashi just kept quiet. However, Seiryuu ignored Iruka's question and chose to look at Kakashi with interest instead. Kakashi cocked his head to the side innocently at the sudden attention and he had to force himself not to over react when the cool fingers reached for him once again.

"Do you know that you're awfully good at feigning sleep?" the soft voice rang out as the cool fingers traced Kakashi's jaw lazily. "Even better than your _ninja _boyfriend," the second sentence was added thoughtfully with the word ninja being emphasized. Kakashi's heart skipped a few beats and Seiryuu leaned back to the bedside table with an amused chuckle.

"Maybe I'm just awfully good in sleeping like a dead man," regaining his composure, Kakashi retorted in a light hearted and slightly flirtatious tone.

"I wonder which one is it," Seiryuu laughed softly at the obvious deny and replied. However, the atmosphere changed drastically when Seiryuu released her chakra just in the right amount to create a suffocating aura in the room. Kakashi started to pant as he did not have any chakra to soothe the pressure. Iruka noticed that immediately and he released his chakra to counter the oppressing one from Seiryuu.

"Protecting your boyfriend huh? Too bad I've no time to do this with you," straightening her back, Seiryuu said and she charged at Iruka in a blur of speed. At the second Seiryuu burst her chakra, Iruka knew she was going to attack and he managed to block the short dagger with his kunai in time. His chakra was channelled to his whole body in order to soothe the pain on his chest and gave him a temporary burst of strength.

"Very fast for a chuunin, I'm impressed," Seiryuu said in her calm and soft voice again as if she was not in a battle. Iruka caught the slender wrist of the hand aiming for his neck and attempted to break it. Seiryuu reacted by pulling her wrist forcefully away from Iruka's grip and Iruka was almost flung to the other side of the room if he did not release his hold in time. _"Damn, is she really a she?"_ Iruka thought as he regained his footing and ducked to dodge the dagger once again.

Kakashi was looking at the fight with his heart beating impossibly fast. Seiryuu was an amazing close range fighter. Her stance was perfect and her attacks were deadly. She looked like as if she was performing a dance instead of engaging in a fight with her graceful movements in the battle. It was not that Kakashi looked down on Iruka's abilities, Seiryuu was simply too strong of an opponent.

"What do you," Iruka attempted to ask but his sentence was cut short when he had to step up to the wall to dodge Seiryuu's kick. "Want from us?!" Iruka snarled and aimed a kick at Seiryuu's ankle when he landed behind Seiryuu after performing a back flip.

"You," the calm reply came as Seiryuu leaped and dodged the kick without even turning to face Iruka. A dagger was swiftly thrown down and it cut through Iruka's pants before it embedded itself into the floor. Iruka pulled his leg away from the confinement with brute strength and he freed himself with his pants slightly torn. Almost as a reflex, Iruka caught the side of the cape and Seiryuu attempted to dodge by jumping backwards. However, she did not expect the force that was applied to her cape, meaning to force her down to the floor. Seiryuu knew that she was strong but Iruka's strength as a ninja should not be underestimated as well. Therefore, she chose to remove her cape in one swift move and leaped to the other side of the room in a few steps, crouching slightly in an offensive posture, preparing for the next attack.

Both Kakashi and Iruka were stunned to silence once they saw Seiryuu without the cape. She was wearing a traditional kimono underneath the cape but the collar of the kimono hung loosely around her arms instead of hanging from her shoulder. The delicate collarbones were standing out due to Seiryuu's slightly skinny form and her tan skin took a beautiful shade of warm brown under the moonlight that shone into the room. Half of her hair was tied up loosely into a bun with expensive looking hair ornaments decorating it while the other half flowed past her shoulder and down to her waist. Seiryuu's slanted green eyes, small but pointy nose, full lips and high cheekbones gave a traditional edge to her beauty. She was definitely the kind of woman that one would describe as stunningly gorgeous.

Noticing the lack of reaction from the two other occupants in the room, Seiryuu smiled ever slightly as she pushed some hair behind her ears in a seductive manner and drawled, "It's not very nice to stare at another person when your partner is around. Don't you guys know that?"

Seiryuu soft voice immediately shook Kakashi and Iruka out of their own stupor. Kakashi was silently beating himself on the head for the momentary spacing out moment. Seiryuu was so stunning that he could not help but stared. Iruka's face went red when he finally realised that he had been staring. He secretly liked collarbones which stood out clearly and Seiryuu seemed to fulfil that criterion. He was suddenly glad for the dim lighting in the room because he was sure that even his ears would be a burning shade of red by now. He would not want his enemy to see him blushing in the middle of a battle now, would he?

"You guys are awfully quiet, hmm?" Seiryuu asked again, humour lacing her voice. She could see the visible darkening of Iruka's already tanned skin and she was making a guess that the guy was blushing. The civilian however seemed to be much calmer even though he was caught at staring as well.

"Shall we continue?" steadying himself, Iruka ignored Seiryuu's question as he poised in an offensive crouch and asked. A smirk was the only answer he got before Seiryuu leaped and charged at him, another short dagger gripped tightly on her hand. Kakashi was following Seiryuu's movement and at the second Seiryuu leaped towards Iruka, her long hair that obscured the full view of her back gently swung up and Kakashi managed to sneak a peek at the vicious dragon tattooed on her back. However, the real reason for Kakashi being captivated by the tattoo was the various kanji written on the dragon's scales. Kakashi's eyesight was considered as bad for a ninja due to the constant use of Sharingan but he had the expertise in observing and memorising little details. Silently, Kakashi memorised every single kanji that he managed to read on the tattoo and his eyes widened ever slightly when he slowly came to a realisation. _"Iruka, you need to lose the fight."_

Iruka was having a hard time keeping up with Seiryuu's attacks. His chest was starting to hurt again and his head was spinning. Fighting in such a condition was a complete disadvantage for him. Panting harshly, Iruka shook his head in an attempt to focus his sight while inhaling as much air as he could after he dodged Seiryuu's punch. That was when he noticed the intense look directed at him by Kakashi. The barely visible change of expression on Iruka's face was the only signal that Kakashi needed before he swiftly formed a few sign words while Seiryuu was facing him with her back.

"_Lose the fight? Why?" _Iruka was not so pleasantly shocked when he interpreted the words signed to him. Why on earth Kakashi wanted him to lose, did he want to get both of them killed? Iruka was pondering over what to do but he made up his mind at the instant he saw the next sentence signed to him. _"Trust me."_

Bracing himself for the next attack, Iruka pretended not to see the kick aimed at his left temple and he grunted in pain when the hit connected, sending him crashing onto a wall. An audible cracking sound could be heard and his blurry vision gotten even worse as his world spun. It was just a few seconds time before Iruka passed out after hearing a frightful whisper of his name by Kakashi. Kakashi was expecting to see Iruka taking a blow but he did not expect the fear that came along with it. He planned to pretend to be frightened but in reality, he was terrified. Especially after hearing the cracking sound and witnessing Iruka fell unconscious due to the pain. His suffering was cut short however when the expected blow on the back of his neck came.

Picking up her cape from the floor, Seiryuu patted it slightly before she wore it once again. Bending down, she lifted Iruka single-handedly to her narrow shoulder and did the same to Kakashi soon after. _"Now I can finally get some sleep," _making the necessary hand signs, Seiryuu teleported out of the room, leaving the messy room in silence once again.

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"_Where am I?" _Iruka thought when he awoke in yet another unfamiliar place. Cautiously, he stretched his chakra and felt immensely relieved when he sensed the familiar presence of Kakashi right beside him. Opening his eyes slowly, Iruka looked over to the bound man beside him and whispered, "Kakashi."

"I'm awake," the amused reply came instantly and Iruka suddenly felt like kicking the bastard again. That idiot was awake all the time but still he did not spare Iruka from getting insecure waking up in an unknown place.

"You're a jerk," Iruka huffed in annoyance as he slowly took in their surroundings. They were obviously held captive by Umino clan right now, judging from their bound limbs and the thick bars in front of them.

"I know," Kakashi chirped his reply merrily as he moved into a more comfortable position before he asked, "Notice anything different?"

It only took Iruka one second to realise what was very different about the prison. "I still have my chakra!" Iruka exclaimed excitedly. Usually whenever a ninja was caught, the first thing their captive would do was to eliminate their chakra but this did not seem like the case for him right now.

"Exactly. The cuffs on us aren't chakra absorbing cuffs but the bars are. So either way, we couldn't escape. Or would you like to dig a tunnel out with two spoons and two bowls?" Kakashi joked and tilted his head towards the direction of said equipments. The death glare from Iruka was expected but he was spared from a punch as both of them were bounded.

"How about the wall?" finally relaxing from his tense posture, Iruka asked.

"There are seals on the wall. Impossible," Kakashi replied and he added after a while of silence, "What's the point of escaping after trying so hard to get in here?"

"Huh?"

"We did take some vicious hits to get in here right? Why don't we make it worth the pain?" crinkling his eyes into happy inverted U shape, Kakashi questioned cheerfully.

"Explain."

"Did you notice the tattoo on Seiryuu's back?" leaning back to the wall, Kakashi started his explanation in a hushed tone.

"Yeah. A dragon. What about it?" Iruka whispered as he nodded slightly.

"There are kanji tattooed on the dragon's scales."

"Kanji?"

"Yes. Kanji for the twelve zodiacs, which are our hand signs or at the same time, kanji for the twelve time frames in a day," Kakashi answered as he recalled back what he managed to memorise during the fight.

"Or kanji for the name of a year," Iruka added.

"Yes. I couldn't make out all of them but I managed to get a sequence. Dragon, mouse, boar, tiger, dog and monkey. Can you think of anything associated with all of these?" smirking slightly, Kakashi blurted out the whole sequence and looked at Iruka expectantly.

"Dragon, mouse... Let's see," mumbling under his breath, Iruka fished around his memory trying to find something that matched the sequence.

"How do we usually record down past events?" Kakashi hinted as he smiled at the look of concentration on Iruka's face.

"Year followed by the season, then date and time and... Shit!" Iruka stopped his ramblings and cursed when he finally grasped what Kakashi was trying to make him figured out.

"Yes. Shit."

"Are you sure about this?!" Iruka asked in disbelief, totally forgot that he was supposed to lower down his volume.

"Pretty sure. Can you think of any other event associated with this sequence?" smiling smugly at Iruka, Kakashi retorted.

"Not really. What if this is just a coincidence?" Iruka asked again. He refused to believe that the event in his mind right now matched perfectly with the sequence provided by Kakashi.

"If it's one or two kanji, I can accept that as a coincidence. But when five successive kanji together? No."

"Right! What about the sixth kanji, the monkey?" Iruka questioned, again forgetting to lower down his volume. Kakashi did not seem to mind though.

"I haven't figured that out but I think it's the start point for another historical event."

"This is bad," shaking his head slightly, Iruka murmured.

"Yeah. That's why I asked you to lose the fight," Kakashi explained and Iruka nodded his understanding.

"We can't leave here yet. We have to stop this."

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A/N: Sorry for the delay. I've good reason! I've been writing drabbles. =D Anyway, enjoy!


	24. Chapter 24

Living in the Mist (Chapter 24)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

"Do you have any plan?" Iruka asked tentatively. They had more or less figured out Kuroshi's scheme but how were they going to stop him?

"I do have a plan but it'll need some major revising," Kakashi answered truthfully. He had thought about a plan but he could spot flaws everywhere. He needed more time to figure out something flawless.

"Tell me about it?" noticing that Kakashi was not telling him anything else, Iruka requested instead. Kakashi contemplated about his options for a while before he sighed and gave in. He could not think of anything better right now. The one in his mind had to work, in one way or another.

"Alright. You do know why do you still have your chakra right?"

"They want it for the pendant."

"Exactly. They would not kill you right now. You're useful to them. Do you remember about the secret tunnel I told you about?" Kakashi asked as he kept the truth that he could be disposed by the clan any moment to himself. Basically he had no use for the clan and the only reason he was still alive was the clan did not consider him as a threat. However, there was no point in telling Iruka this. He was sure that the mother hen would want them to escape right now for his sake.

"Yeah, the pendant is there right?" Iruka said as he recalled back what Kakashi had told him earlier in the hospital room.

"Yep, so most probably they will bring you there when they want to use the pendant on you."

"Why won't they bring the pendant here or just put us in the underground prison?" tilting his head to look at Kakashi, Iruka asked curiously.

"Other victims are down there. It'll be easier for them to do their job at a same place," Kakashi reasoned and he added after a small pause, "Plus…"

"Yamanaka Ryuichiro."

Kakashi nodded and smiled slightly. Iruka was sharp after all. "Yes. Apparently they don't want us to meet him so we are held captive here."

"So what should I do when I get down there?" steering back to the topic, Iruka asked and returned the smile.

"We're not sure how many times they're going to suck the chakra from you. But if it's a onetime thing, we have to make sure this works on the first try," Kakashi said grimly, thinking about all the possibilities. If the clan had enough people to spare, Iruka's chakra was most likely to be used only once. He could not risk Iruka's life. Iruka did not say anything as he nodded, signalling Kakashi that he was keeping up.

"Once you locate the pendant, grab it and make a run. I don't know how yet so don't ask me. I'll take Ryuichiro and we'll meet at the entrance of the tunnel," sighing at the obvious flaws, Kakashi outlined his plan. Iruka seemed to be amused by this as his eyes twinkled in mirth and a low chuckle escaped his lips. "Who knows the great Sharingan Kakashi will come up with a plan of pre-genin's standard?"

Kakashi pouted and glared at the openly laughing Iruka. He knew better than anyone else that his plan needed some serious improvements but Iruka should not be such a meanie to actually point that out.

"Alright, alright. Why don't we come back for Ryuichiro after this mission?" getting back to his serious tone again, Iruka inquired. "Why the hurry to save him?"

"He spied on the clan before and it's suspicious that the clan had not disposed of him yet. He must know something that we don't. Should be useful if we brought him along with us," Kakashi gave Iruka part of the reasons he wanted to save Ryuichiro, keeping the fact that he wanted to talk to Ryuichiro about his father to himself.

"I see. So where should we go after we escape?" not noticing that Kakashi was hiding something, Iruka just nodded and continued.

"Gai's place. We can contact the village from there."

"Okay, sounds good. Now enlighten me with how should I get the pendant and escape without getting myself killed," Iruka smirked and teased Kakashi on his horrible plan again. The pout that followed immediately made Iruka laughed.

"I'm thinking! If you're such a smart ass then stop laughing and help me to think as well," the venomous retort came after Kakashi realised that Iruka was not going to drop this any time soon.

"Well, I have something in mind actually," Iruka said smugly and smirked at the surprised look on Kakashi's face.

"You do? Tell me."

"Teleportation."

"You have enough chakra to do that?" Kakashi's eyes widened when he heard Iruka's suggestion. He had thought about teleportation but he discarded the plan because he thought that Iruka would not have enough chakra to actually do it.

"Now you are underestimating me," Iruka pouted and mumbled in his feign hurt voice. However, the twinkle in his eyes gave out that he was actually very amused and not even hurt at the slightest.

"Do you have enough chakra to a precise one?" Kakashi chuckled slightly before he got back to his serious mode and asked.

"Yes but it takes at least three quarters of my chakra. We can't afford to get caught because I won't be able to put up much fight," Iruka answered truthfully, his chakra reserved was not something he was proud of. Kakashi did not mind though as he nodded a few times and leaned back to the wall before he started to talk again.

"Good. Remember the huge gate when we first came here?"

"Yeah, are we going to teleport there?"

"Yes, the guard won't be alerted by our escape so fast. So even if he spotted us we still can make up some excuses."

"Right. So I'll take the pendant and teleport to the gate to meet you."

"Yes and I'll take Ryuichiro. If you wait for more than ten minutes and I still haven't made it, go to Gai," silently telling himself that he would go back for Iruka no matter what, Kakashi told Iruka to act in an exact opposite way. Iruka was not too happy with it as he protested but Kakashi quickly cut him off, "It's for the best. Tell Gai everything and he'll figure something out. He is green but reliable."

"You're discriminating the colour green, aren't you?" Iruka narrowed his eyes and asked sceptically. Kakashi grinned at him and Iruka sighed when he saw the childishly excited look on Kakashi's face. His mission partner was really hopeless after all.

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"Genbu, you're going to be so dead," Seiryuu said with her soft voice, amusement could clearly be heard in her sentence.

"Who on earth manage to escape all these traps?!" Genbu snarled viciously at the sight in front of him. The bars were lowered down and there were evidences of fight everywhere in the tunnel but no sight of the intruder could be seen.

"You miscalculated the enemy's ability, Genbu," Seiryuu said again, this time laughing out loud without even bothering the glare from Genbu.

"The chakra can only be felt here. I sensed nothing out of the tunnel. This person is good," finally getting his temper under control, Genbu regained his calm composure and said.

"Perhaps we could have some decent chat with our prisoners here to see what happened back then," Seiryuu suggested as she fixed her gaze on Ryuichiro. Ryuichiro did not even flinch at the piercing gaze. Instead, he smirked and replied, "Are you sure you want to talk to an old man with Alzheimer?"

"That's up to us to decide, old man," Seiryuu soft voice took a sharp edge as she spat the sentence right back to Ryuichiro.

"What did you just say? I forgot," faking a frown, Ryuichiro said in feign solemn voice while doing a happy dance mentally for successfully making the ever calm Seiryuu losing her temper.

"Seiryuu, drop it. We'll deal with this old man later. We lost the intruder only, nothing else. The main focus now is to fill the pendant with chakra," Genbu patted Seiryuu shoulder and said. He did not bother to conceal what he was talking to Seiryuu because all the prisoners in here were mostly fainted and badly beaten, except the old man who was quite aware of their plan long time ago.

"Fine. Who should we take first?" taking a deep breath, Seiryuu looked around the prison and asked.

"Akio and Junko."

"Use them for once or…"

"More than once. They can regenerate their chakra pretty fast. We could dispose of them after we take everything they could offer," Genbu cut off Seiryuu's sentence and said. If he presented Kuroshi with a pendant almost full with chakra, perhaps Kuroshi would let the intruder matter slide and he would save himself from some serious yelling.

"Alright. Let's get this started."

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"Iruka," Kakashi called out quietly as he nudged Iruka with his bound legs. His nose was picking up an unfamiliar scent and the footsteps that gradually got louder told him that they were going to have a guest very soon.

"What?" the annoyed reply came as Iruka shook his head groggily, trying to clear up his sleep-induced fuzzy mind.

"Someone's coming," nudging Iruka's legs once again, Kakashi whispered. This immediately caught Iruka's attention as his eyes shot open and he looked at Kakashi intensely.

"It's not Seiryuu. The chakra is strong but it's different from Seiryuu," realising that Kakashi could not differentiate chakra traits in his current state, Iruka supplied Kakashi with the information.

"Most probably one of those I sensed when I snooped around the mansion," Kakashi nodded his appreciation and made a wild guess at who was going to be their guest.

"Yeah. So…"

"Stick to plan. But if you're unable to get the pendant, it's alright. We'll think of something else. Just escape from the tunnel in one piece."

"Same to you. If you can't get Ryuichiro out, at least get yourself out," Iruka mumbled in a low voice, aware of the fact that their guest was getting very near to them. Kakashi was not able to reply because right after Iruka finished his sentence, an old man with long beard and greyish white hair neatly tied back into a bun came in with steady strides.

"Iruka-san, if you don't mind, I need you to come with me," the old man said politely as he casted a slight smile at the two prisoners once he stood in front of the cell, all the while smoothing his long beard in an absent-minded manner.

"Why are you capturing us?!" Iruka snarled as he glared at the old man with as much venom as he could muster. Even though they had figured out what was the clan trying to do, it was better if they kept their pretence and misled their enemies.

"You'll know soon enough. Now come with me or I'll have to make you," not missing a beat, the old man replied smoothly without being intimidated by Iruka's glare.

"Make me then," Iruka spat back, not backing up for even the slightest. However, he regretted his words immediately when the hair confined in the bun suddenly came loose and charged at him, bounding him and making him knelt in a painful position. Iruka grunted in pain as his weak body was abused yet again and Kakashi's eyes widened when he saw the skill used by the old man. He could not remember any jutsu like that except Jiraiya's Hari Jizo. However, to use Hari Jizo, a few hand seals were actually needed but this jutsu was casted without forming any hand seals. It was definitely a rare one.

"_Bad, bad, bad…" _Kakashi thought to himself as he watched the hair did its magic, opening the cuffs and pulling Iruka towards the bars. The old man then channelled his chakra into the seal located at the bars to unlock the door. Once the door was opened, Iruka was forcefully pulled out from the cell, making him to lose his balance and drop to the floor. The old man did not even bother about that as he sealed the door once again and left without casting a second look at Kakashi. Iruka was dragged behind the old man in an awkward manner, limbs bounded painfully by the long hair. He tried to fight back half-heartedly but in his current state, he could not even make any hand seals and brute strength was not exactly working on the death grip of the hair. Kakashi was casting a pitiful look at Iruka but Iruka just shook his head dismissively as he smiled and mouthed, _"Be careful. See you later."_

"_You too," _managing a small smile himself, Kakashi mouthed back the two simple words before Iruka disappeared from his sight completely.

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A/N: Hari Jizo is one of Jiraiya's jutsu, appears in episode 94 in anime and chapter 166 in manga.


	25. Chapter 25

Living in the Mist (Chapter 25)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

"_Kakashi's right. He's really taking me to the underground prison," _Iruka took in his surrounding and concluded that he was indeed in the tunnel that Kakashi mentioned to him. The punishing hold on his limbs never let loose for even one second and he was starting to feel dizzy due to the pain.

"You're here already," the familiar voice caught Iruka's attention instantly and he turned his head in a painful manner just to snarl at the owner of the voice. "Seiryuu!"

"Yes, anything?" smiling sweetly at Iruka, Seiryuu asked. Her cape was gone again and the dim light in the tunnel made her exposed tan skin shone in a most exotic way. The dragon tattoo was not visible because of her long hair obscuring the full view of her back. Iruka was glaring ferociously at her until he saw the two lifeless forms laying unceremoniously on the floor, not too far away from him.

"Akio-san! Junko-san!"

"I never knew you're in good term with your assailants. They're not dead, don't worry," walking over to the two unconscious forms, Seiryuu drawled as she kicked Junko's side lazily. The sharp intake of breath by Iruka caused her to smirk slightly as that was the exact reaction she was anticipating for.

"How could you treat your own people like that…" Iruka whispered under his breath in disbelief. Even though he already knew that the clan was using its own members, seeing and knowing it were two different things. The fact that they shared the same surname was more than enough for Iruka to treat them as family members and not some necessary tools to reach a goal. "They're your family, how could you…"

"Exactly. They're my family, so I could," striding away from Junko, Seiryuu answered as she walked towards a small stand in the middle of the room, reaching for the black box rested there. The seals on the box were obviously unlocked because Seiryuu could open the box easily despite all the visible drawings of seals crisscrossing on the box and the stand. Iruka on the other hand, was totally stunned by her answer. _"Aren't family members supposed to take care of each other? Why are they doing this…"_

"The Umino Clan is really famous for their soft hearted ninjas," looking at Iruka's befuddled look, Seiryuu said softly, contradicting the disgusted look that she shot at Iruka. She was definitely not proud of the statement. Before Iruka could say anything, the old man who restrained him and never uttered a word after that finally spoke. "Enough. Stop wasting time."

"You do know we still have some time left, Genbu," Seiryuu smiled and replied, lifting the pendant out of the box, carefully avoiding the kanji in the middle.

"Iruka-san, it'd be best if you don't die on us. So when I ask you to stop your chakra, please do. You can choose not to, we have plenty of people to use," Genbu explained calmly as he used his hair to move Iruka to Seiryuu's direction.

"_I couldn't let them suck my chakra. I won't have enough to teleport if they did it. I need to break from the hold of the hair first. But how?" _Iruka's mind was whirling when he felt the tightening of the grip on his limbs. The pendant was dangling from Seiryuu's long fingers and the bright blue glow on part of the kanji in the middle was clear for the sight of all. Almost one third of the kanji was already filled with chakra. Iruka could not help but wonder how many people they had used to gain this much of chakra. His train of thoughts was disrupted however when Seiryuu swung the pendant right in front of his face and drawled in amusement. "Iruka-san, are you ready?"

"_Think, Iruka. Think!" _staring at the gorgeous tanned skin lady, Iruka gulped in a mouthful of much needed air and chanted mentally. He was running out of time and his brain still refused to supply him with a kick-ass plan that would get him out of there.

"Genbu," Seiryuu looked at the old man and called out gently. A slight nod was her only answer and without wasting any time, Seiryuu moved the pendant to Iruka's forehead as Genbu slowly released his hold on Iruka, not wanting to be another victim of the chakra sucking pendant. Iruka's eyes widened as he felt the hair slowly loosened its grip on his limbs. Clearing his mind, Iruka took a deep breath as he thought grimly, _"I'm going to do this right or I'm going to die." _

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"_Ah, it's good to be underestimated," _Kakashi smiled to himself as the corded muscles of his biceps stood out clearly due to the force he was currently exerting from them. Beads of sweat were sliding down his temples and forehead, causing him to shake his head a couple of times before he got back to concentrating on what he was doing again. A small creaking sound made him grinned as he knew that his effort was fruiting. He just needed more time before he could get out of the prison.

"_What did they use to make these bars? They're as hard as metal," _Kakashi grumbled to himself as he applied more force on his arms, trying to pull apart two of the bars so that there would be a space wide enough for him to slide out. _"Oh right, they're metal," _he shook his head at his own dry humour as he continued his tedious task. The bars were definitely giving him a hard time and he could not use his chakra before he managed to escape from the prison. However, his own musings was cut short when the bars suddenly fell apart from their original position and Kakashi had to take a few steps back to regain his balance. He raised his brows in amusement as he looked at the crooked bars on his hands. _"I never knew that I'm this strong," _chuckling slightly, Kakashi threw the bars that he ripped out with his brute strength to a corner and slid through the narrow opening in one swift move. This was one of the few moments that his lean built actually helped him in a mission.

Once he slipped past the prison bars, Kakashi popped a pill into his mouth and sighed at the familiar feeling of steady chakra flow in his body. Almost instinctively, he closed his left eye and suppressed his chakra to the lowest level as he made his way to the room where he first discovered the secret tunnel. Silently, he thanked every god that he could remember when he actually did not come across anyone during his little journey. However, a reasonable side of his mind pointed out that most probably the clan members were already captured by their evil leader, causing the lack of people in the mansion.

Kakashi ended his little mind talking session when the view of the familiar room came into his sight. Cautiously, he stretched his senses and was immensely glad when he felt the steady chakra signal from Iruka. After he made sure that no one was in the room, Kakashi went into the room stealthily and he was not surprised when he found out that the seal was actually unlocked, leaving the entrance of the tunnel wide opened.

"_How cautious of them…" _Kakashi thought sarcastically as he entered the tunnel without hesitation, all the while suppressing his chakra to prevent himself from being noticed. His previous journey to the tunnel had given him a very good outline of how to move in the tunnel and he managed to reach the entrance of the underground prison within a short amount of time. Scanning his surroundings, Kakashi spotted the skinny old man in one of the cells, hands chained to a wall and head hung low in a defeated kind of look.

"Oi, old man," Kakashi walked towards the cell hurriedly and called out in a hushed tone once he made sure that there were no traps around. His voice immediately triggered a reaction from Ryuichiro as the old man hastily raised his head and looked at him disbelievingly. "Kakashi…"

Kakashi did not fail to notice the disbelief look plastered on Ryuichiro's face but he chose to ignore it for now. His priorities now were to free this old man, teleport themselves out of this place and meet up with Iruka at the gate. "Tell me how to disable the traps," wasting no time, Kakashi studied the hidden seals on the door as he asked Ryuichiro impatiently, his brows furrowed together in concentration.

"You can't disable…"

"Why?" before Ryuichiro could finish his sentence, Kakashi cut him off and asked but he immediately realised why Ryuichiro said that the traps were impossible to be disabled. "I understand already. I'm going to get you out," without giving Ryuichiro any chance to speak, Kakashi continued his one sided conversation as he focused his chakra on his palm, creating a mini size chidori. Ryuichiro seemed to disagree with Kakashi's rash action as he protested in whispered words, "They'll know! Stop this right now! Just escape…"

Noting the regretful tone of voice, Kakashi stared right into the skinny old man's light coloured eyes and said determinedly, "If you're feeling guilty about my father's incident. Don't. Konoha's ninjas never leave their teammates behind. That's the reason why I'm doing this." Once he finished his sentence, Kakashi slammed his palm on top of the lock of the cell, letting his chidori to blast a hole right through the bars effortlessly. Unfortunately, that also triggered a series of traps.

"Behind you!" Ryuichiro yelled urgently once he noticed the barrage of arrows aiming at Kakashi's back. There was no point to keep his voice down anymore because once the traps were triggered, they would be found out sooner or later due to chaos. Kakashi did not need Ryuichiro's warning to sense the attack behind him. Forming hand seals at incredible speed, he turned to face the attack and sent a huge fireball to melt the arrows, at the same time leaping backwards into the cell and hauled Ryuichiro's skinny body up. However, he halted his action when he noticed the swords that were starting to extend from the wall and the various jutsu that were charging towards them in a blur of speed.

"Leave!" Ryuichiro attempted to struggle out from Kakashi's death grip as he yelled into the stubborn ninja's ears. Kakashi being the ever stubborn ninja did not loosen his grip even for the slightest as he muttered darkly, "Screw this…"

"Wha…"

"Old man, you can stand a bit of pain right?" without waiting for a reply again, Kakashi forcefully pulled the skinny man's wrists from the confinement of the cuffs, wincing at the sight of tear skin and the blood that started to gush out from the wound uncontrollably. He did not want to treat Ryuichiro like that but the situation right now did not allow him to actually try and unlock the cuffs so he had no choice but to take advantage of Ryuichiro's small wrists and freed the old man in a not so comfortable way. However, Kakashi admitted that the respect he had for the Yamanaka just went up a notch when Ryuichiro did not flinch or made a noise at the sudden pain. The only signal that showed Ryuichiro really did feel something was the tightly sealed lips and the beads of sweat sliding down his forehead down to his chin.

"C'mon, let's go," gripping Ryuichiro's arms, Kakashi leaped from side to side as he dodged the attacks, not bothering to fight back. Instead he concentrated on finding a place where he could just land for one second and teleport their asses out of the place.

"There!" turning his head to the direction of one of the corners, Ryuichiro said to Kakashi urgently once he spotted the tiny area at the far end of the prison which was not hit by any jutsu yet. Kakashi nodded and wasted no time leaping towards the safe zone as he continued to dodge the attacks, trying to ignore the pain on his injured ankle. He was so close to landing but a sudden pain on his ankle told him that he was not having the best luck after all.

"Die! Scum!" Kakashi cursed inwardly at the sight of an old man standing at the entrance of the prison, his white hair flowing freely. Some of the strands that attached to Kakashi's injured ankle tightened its grip impossibly under the control of the old man. A loud crack was heard and Kakashi willed himself not to scream at the bone-stabbing pain that shot up his entire body at the instant his ankle got broken. Instead, he used the last bit of his strength to pull Ryuichiro closer and started to form hand seals as fast as he could, his eyes never leaving the hair that was charging at them viciously.

"You're not getting away!" their attacker snarled once again but Kakashi's returned it with a smirk this time as he completed his hand seals right before the hair reached him. In a swirl of smoke, Kakashi and Ryuichiro disappeared from the prison leaving a fuming white haired man behind.

"_We made it…"_

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A/N: Sorry for the delay. Evil coursework... I've been working on another fic which I didn't post here due to formatting problem. Feel free to visit my homepage to have a look at it. It's called LJ Entries.


	26. Chapter 26

Living in the Mist (Chapter 26)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

"Genbu, did you…" right before Seiryuu placed the pendant on Iruka's forehead, the triggered traps from the other side of the tunnel caused her to halt her action and whispered, uncertainty clearly reflected in her thoughtful green eyes.

"I know. Take care of him," Genbu did not lose his composure as he fully released his hold on Iruka and rushed to the underground prison without wasting any more time. He could recognise the chakra flicker that was similar to the one that intruded the prison earlier on and he was not going to let the same thing happened twice. _"You escaped for the first time but I can ensure you there won't be a second," _Genbu thought to himself as he ran in the tunnel with a speed that contrasted his aged look, not realising that leaving Iruka alone with Seiryuu was actually the biggest mistake that he made.

"So Iruka-san, shall we begin?" reaching for the still kneeling Iruka, Seiryuu said sweetly as she held the pendant closer and closer to Iruka's forehead.

"Yes, we shall!" Iruka snarled right before the pendant touched his forehead, at the same time swiping one of his legs across the ground aiming for Seiryuu's ankles. Seiryuu was stunned for a split second when she heard the tone of Iruka's voice but her reflexes saved her from taking the hit as she leaped away from Iruka's attack, the dangling pendant still tightly gripped in her hand.

"So you're still fighting. Entertain me then," despite the current situation, Seiryuu smiled at Iruka and said in her indifferent soft voice again. The only person that could make her lose her composure was the perverted old man in the jail that always commented on her ass whenever he saw her. She was actually half expecting Iruka to fight back because she had judged Iruka's character as the never-giving-up type from the fiery temper he showed during their first meeting.

Iruka did not bother to reply as he sent a flying kick to Seiryuu again, never expecting the hit to connect. He needed to mislead Seiryuu to believe that he was only trying to escape and not aiming for the pendant. Seiryuu easily dodged the kick but the pendant was distracting her since she had to avoid touching the kanji of the dangling pendant. Iruka seemed to notice that as he allowed a small smirk on his face before he sent a series of Taijutsu attacks to the tanned skin beauty. He did not want to use any high level jutsu because he needed to reserve his chakra for the teleportation later on. Seiryuu was having a hard time avoiding the dangling pendant and she finally concluded that holding a double edged weapon during a fight was not a bright idea after all. Looking at the black box, she leaped towards the stand, trying to put the pendant back to its original place and seal the box before she concentrated fully on her fight. What she did not expect was right before the pendant was dropped into the box, Iruka's hand shot out beneath the stand and snatched the pendant away.

"_Clones!"_ Seiryuu's eyes widened when she finally noticed two Iruka in the room, one delivering nonstop Taijutsu attacks at her while the other snatching the pendant. _"Since when he made a clone?" _Seiryuu thought as she silently told herself not to underestimate the chuunin ranked ninja in front of her. However, the chuunin ranked ninja should never ever underestimate her as well.

"Shit, wha…" Iruka threw the pendant to another Iruka and cursed once he felt the death grip on his neck. He did not even realise that Seiryuu had created a clone as well. He knew he would not get out from of the death grip easily so he passed the pendant to another Iruka instead. Wasting no time, Iruka grabbed the pendant mid-air and started to perform hand seals to teleport. Seiryuu was not giving him any chance to escape with the pendant as both of her charged at Iruka furiously.

"Too bad, I'm the real one," a voice rang out behind Seiryuu as the Iruka that was released from the grip on his neck earlier on spoke in an amused tone. Turning back, Seiryuu was just in time to see Iruka holding a pendant on his hand and made the last seal for teleportation before he disappeared from her sight. She was shocked to no end because she thought the pendant was passed to the Iruka that she was fighting. She swiped her hair away from her face in frustration and her clone picked up a stone from the place where Iruka's clone vanished, weighing it lazily on her palm.

"_Kawarimi huh? Smart chuunin, very smart indeed. Too bad he had gotten the wrong pendant," _thinking to herself, Seiryuu fished out a little box from her cleavage and opened it, looking at the pendant that lay unharmed in the box with a slight smile. Once Iruka initiated the fight, she immediately produced a clone of herself together with the pendant and used that clone to fight with Iruka. The real Seiryuu was actually hiding the pendant away to a safe place, which happened to be her deep cleavage. So all the time, she was pretending to avoid the fake pendant and making Iruka believed that the pendant on her hand was real. However, Iruka still outwitted her in a sense that he managed to escape with the pendant, although he had gotten the fake one.

"_I'm so looking forward to fight with you, chuunin."_

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"Pakkun, get to Gai and tell him to meet up with us," Kakashi panted heavily after he summoned Pakkun. His ankle was killing him with the stabbing pain and Ryuichiro's bleeding hands were not exactly a beautiful sight to witness at.

"Where?" not asking much question on Kakashi's and the unknown person's appearances, Pakkun inquired the exact location of the meeting place.

"Outside his hiding village, north gate. If we did not make it, get help from Konoha," Kakashi replied as he looked over to the huge gate, anxious to know whether Iruka had escaped or not. The original ten minutes time frame was slowly running out.

"I'll be going now. Take care, brat," prodding his nose gently at Kakashi's injured ankle, Pakkun leaped into the lush green forest and disappeared from Kakashi's sight. Pakkun was worried about Kakashi and wanted to stay beside him but it was best to carry out his order first. If Kakashi was engaged in a fight, his pack would still be there to fight for their master.

"You okay?" finally getting his breathing under control, Kakashi looked at the skinny old man and asked in concern. The blood from the old man's injured hands was still gushing out uncontrollably and he did not have any medicine with him right now to treat the wound properly. All he could do was to rip a section of his sleeves and wrapped the wound messily in an attempt to stop the blood flow even if that actually did not help much.

"Heh, of course I'm okay. I was and still am a ninja you know," Ryuichiro gave Kakashi a smile which reminded Kakashi about Gai. That old man could really be an asshole when he wanted to.

"Good to know," tying up the ends of the ripped cloth around Ryuichiro's wound, Kakashi replied in simple words as he once again looked at the huge gate in anticipation. Iruka was getting very late.

"Who are we waiting for?" noticing Kakashi's gaze, Ryuichiro asked curiously. He was starting to wonder why Kakashi had not started to move yet. An injured ankle might slow a ninja down but it would never stop a ninja so there must be a reason for Kakashi to linger at their enemies' territory longer than they needed.

"Another nin…" before Kakashi could finish his sentence, he felt a familiar spike of chakra which told him that Iruka had made it through as well. He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the brown haired chuunin running towards them in full speed, unharmed and clutching something shiny on his hand. _"Impressive. He got the pendant."_

"So that's him? He's cute," Ryuichiro noticed the gaze that Kakashi used on Iruka and he could not help himself but to tease the young man in front of him for a little. For some reason, he felt like as if Kakashi was his own son and he would really like to amend what happened in the past if he was allowed the chance to do so.

"I know, he has a really nice ass some more," going along with the flow, Kakashi did not bother the teasing tone and started to banter around with Ryuichiro as he smiled at Iruka. All of them had made it out for now but they still could not let their guard down before they escaped from here completely.

"Ka-Kakashi, what h-happened to y-your an-ankle?" once Iruka reached Kakashi's side, he crouched down and inspected the ankle that looked like it had been twisting in some very wrong directions. His chest was heaving heavily due to the full speed running which he did without using any chakra enforcement.

"Maa, we can talk about this later. Let's go," Kakashi smiled at Iruka reassuringly as he stood up and put all of his weight on his uninjured leg. Looking over at Ryuichiro skinny frame, he asked, "Old man, can you keep up with us?"

"I told you I'm a ninja," Ryuichiro huffed as he too stood up and relished in the steady chakra flow in his body which he did not feel for years. He could definitely keep up with two injured and tired ninjas.

"Let's go then," smiling at Ryuichiro for the very first time, Iruka tilted his chin at the direction that they were going and started to leap towards the forest without looking back, Kakashi and Ryuichiro following closely behind him.

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"I guess you lost him?" Seiryuu gave the furious looking Genbu a little smile and asked softly, at the same time patting on the empty space beside her signalling Genbu to sit down. She was waiting for Genbu to return in the underground tunnel as she played with the little box on her hand. The slightly spiking chakra told her that Genbu was definitely more than pissed.

"Yeah, it was the civilian," sitting down beside Seiryuu, Genbu tried to get his temper under control before he briefed Seiryuu on what happened on the other side of the tunnel. From the lack of one more person in the tunnel, Genbu was guessing that Seiryuu lost the Konoha chuunin as well.

"He's a ninja too, right?" Genbu gave Seiryuu a sceptical look at her lack of reaction and Seiryuu continued her sentence to spare Genbu from asking her more questions. "He faked sleep much better than the academy teacher. I asked him about it but he brushed it off with some excuses and since I did not sense any chakra from him, I didn't give much attention to him either."

"We were tricked. They're good," talking in his calm tone once again, Genbu looked at the box on Seiryuu's hand and asked, "Pendant?"

"Right here. He escaped with a fake one," opening the black box, Seiryuu smiled and showed Genbu the precious pendant that lay unharmed in the box. "We should prepare some cotton buds."

Genbu looked at Seiryuu with question marks written all over his face at the sudden out of place comment but he immediately caught the underlying message of that sentence. "You're right. We're so going to be deaf after the Kuroshi-sama yelling session," smirking good naturedly, Genbu joked and patted Seiryuu's shoulder, pretending to be sad at their future predicament.

"At least we still have the pendant. C'mon, let's go and report," Seiryuu laughed at Genbu's antic as she stood up and extended her hand to Genbu.

"Yeah, let's go to Kuroshi-sama," taking the hand offered to him, Genbu stood up and brushed the dust on his clothes away. However, he stopped his action completely as a rush of cold ran up his spine when he felt two very, very familiar chakra signals right behind him.

"What are all these…Genbu, Seiryuu?"

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A/N: Thanks for the lovely reviews! Gods I love them. Anyway, here's a new chapter.

_Replying to HH (anonymous reviewer),  
__Hey, thank you very much for pointing that out. I was confused because when I looked up in the dictionary, both vines and veins could be a plant structure so I'm not too sure which to use. Thanks for telling. _


	27. Chapter 27

Living in the Mist (Chapter 27)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

Iruka turned around every once and then to look at Kakashi's ankle worriedly as they travelled in the forest. They were moving at a pace so devastatingly slow for ninjas but since all three of them were not in their best shape, Iruka guessed that things like this could not be avoided after all. The horrible weather of Mist did nothing else other than slowing them down and the wicked mosquitoes around them seemed to be really determined about sucking their blood dry. Kakashi's pale skin was visible with scattering red swollen areas thanked to the courtesy of the mosquitoes. Iruka was quite sure with the fact that he himself did not look any better than the dishevelled other two. All in all, they were having an extremely hard time getting to Gai.

"Are we reaching?" Ryuichiro was the first who broke the long silence between them and asked the question he dreaded to know. He might be a ninja but at the same time he was an old man who had been treated harshly for the last twenty years or so in his life. He was having a hard time keeping up with the speed although he knew they were not moving extraordinarily fast.

"Do you need a break?" slowing down slightly, Iruka asked without turning back as he calculated the distance that they had covered and how much longer did they need to go on. The answer that he gotten managed to make him smile for a little. It would not hurt if they took a little break, they could afford it. However, Kakashi did not seem to think so as he leaped past Iruka and said in a quiet but determined voice, "We don't have much time, move."

Iruka was shocked when he heard Kakashi, not because of the tone of voice Kakashi used but simply because of he was unable to sense Kakashi before the jounin leaped past him. When he finally regained his composure, Iruka gave Ryuichiro an apologetic look and focused on his task once again. Kakashi took his earlier position which was to lead the escape and Iruka could not help but to notice that a mission-mode Kakashi was actually a thing that he kept seeing these days. He could not decide whether he was lucky or unlucky in this matter though. Iruka stopped his wandering thoughts when he felt a familiar chakra signal getting closer and closer to them. "Kakashi, Pakkun…"

"I know. We're almost there," without letting Iruka finished his sentence, Kakashi answered and increased their speed slightly. He was anxious to get to Gai because he did not want to risk a fight with the enemies. He knew they would have a hard time winning a fight in their current state. Plus, if Pakkun was just a few feet away from them, it meant that they were really close right now.

"Oi, brat," Pakkun's gruff voice was never such a delight for Kakashi's hearing. Smiling slightly, Kakashi raised a hand and signalled Pakkun to his side. "Yo, Pakkun."

"Gai will be waiting for your arrival at the North Gate. The village is small so it'll be easy for you guys to sneak in, the guards aren't functioning well," leaping side by side with Kakashi, Pakkun gave him some useful information, not acknowledging the other two ninjas leaping behind them. Kakashi tilted his head slightly in confusion and asked, "Guards aren't functioning well? What do you mean by that?"

"The people there look like as if they are starving. Don't ask me why," Pakkun recalled the abnormal situation in the village as he told Kakashi about it. He did not understand how the villagers there managed to survive when the only things left in their body were basically bones and skin. Well, perhaps some organs and tissues here and there but definitely no fat.

"Is Gai doing well?" Kakashi nodded and asked about his so called eternal rival. However, Pakkun did not need to answer the question as all of them noticed the familiar blob of green waving energetically to them not too far away. Kakashi shuddered and wondered why on earth the guards were unable to spot Gai. "You may go now, Pakkun," murmuring absentmindedly to his nin dog, Kakashi sighed and raised a hand to greet Gai.

"What is that green thing with a coconut shell on top of its head?" frowning at the jumping, waving and sending flying kisses unknown object, Ryuichiro cringed and asked Iruka who was currently leaping beside him.

"Uh, Konoha jounin," Iruka scratched the back of his neck sheepishly as he answered, at the same time skilfully dodging all the kisses flying to their direction. Maito Gai, the man never ceased to amaze him, really.

"So they produce jounin like this nowadays huh?" nodding thoughtfully, Ryuichiro dodged another barrage of flying kisses as he scrutinised Gai from afar.

"Uh, yeah," not knowing how to reply, Iruka just nodded a couple of times as his frown grew deeper and deeper when they got closer and closer to Gai.

"Oh My Eternal..." Gai did not get a chance to finish Kakashi's title because the pale hand that clamped on his mouth had successfully silenced him. "Village, now," looking at Gai with a bored stare, Kakashi said the two words monotonously and he released his hold on Gai immediately once he finished his sentence, cringing at the wetness in the middle of his palm.

"Yes, we shall do so! Good day, Iruka-sensei and unknown old man!" happily striking his good guy pose, Gai allowed Kakashi to wipe his hand on his green shirt. He was out of his usual spandex but he was still clad in a green shirt and a pair of dark pants which looked so much better in Iruka's opinion. "Follow me."

Kakashi scanned his surroundings briefly and his heightened sight allowed him to notice the guards leaning lazily at the gate. _"Pakkun was right. They ARE skinny…" _frowning, Kakashi poked Gai's back and pointed a single finger to the direction of the gate. Gai told them to be quiet as they were relatively close to the village area right now. Their chakra was not a problem since there was no ninja in this village. As long as they did not have any chakra outburst, none of the villagers would be able to spot them.

Gai looked at the guards and nodded in understanding but he did not say anything else. Instead, he stopped in his track and undone the Genjutsu he placed. An opening showed itself immediately in front of them and Gai signalled the other three to go inside with a wave of his hand.

"We're going to stay here?" looking around the spacious but empty house, Iruka asked in a hushed tone once Gai finished placing the Genjutsu on the opening once again. He never knew the Taijutsu specialist could use Genjutsu as well. After all, the man was deadly enough just with his scary Taijutsu skills. However, Gai surprised him once again when he formed another sound isolating jutsu around the house.

"Now we can talk freely," grinning brightly at Iruka, the green shirt jounin spoke normally without the aid of sparkles. Kakashi found himself a seat as he started to rummage through his pockets for available weapons. They were unable to grab their bags before they escaped so he wanted to check what was left with him. "Gai, this is Yamanaka Ryuichiro. He's…"

"None of that now, Kakashi. Let's get you guys treated first," Gai interrupted Kakashi calmly as he took two boxes from a cupboard. He was shocked when he heard the name but he did not show it on his face. The last thing he needed now was an irritated Copy Ninja who refused to get his treatment done because he wanted to do something related to the mission. "Iruka, I'll handle Ryuichiro-san's hands. Can you help me with Kakashi's ankle?"

"Yeah, sure," taking the first aid kit that Gai handed to him, Iruka nodded and crouched beside Kakashi, getting rid of the filthy sandal and inspecting the injured ankle. If he was surprised at how normal Gai was acting, he did not say anything about it. "Kakashi, I'll mend the bones with my chakra so this might hurt a bit," prodding softly at Kakashi's ankle, Iruka gave his warning as he slowly concentrated his chakra, making his palm to glow in a soothing colour of ocean blue.

"Do you have enough chakra to do that?" Kakashi frowned and asked, at the same time taking the pendant that Iruka put on the table in his hand.

"I have some left. Don't worry," placing his palm over Kakashi's ankle, Iruka started to channel his chakra to heal the injured area. The sound of bones mending back together made him cringed but he continued his task none the less.

"Fuck…" a sudden loud curse made Iruka jumped as he looked up at Kakashi, confusion clearly shown in his big brown orbs. He did not hurt Kakashi accidentally now, did he?

"Wha…"

"The pendant is a fake," clasping the pendant tightly with his fingers, Kakashi said as both of his dark orbs narrowed in anger. The Sharingan was apparently still functioning even under the henge. Iruka was tricked by their enemies.

"F-Fake? Wha…" Iruka looked forth and back from Kakashi to the pendant, unable to form a full sentence. _"I got the wrong pendant? But how was it possible…?"_

"My Sharingan confirmed it. Look," forming the familiar hand seals, Kakashi dispelled the Genjutsu casted on the fake pendant and within a second, there was a stone on the table instead of a pendant. Iruka looked at the pendant, or stone disbelievingly before he ducked his head and murmured his apology quietly. He could not believe that he went through all the troubles just to bring back a fake pendant.

Realising that he sort of overreacted back then, Kakashi put a hand on Iruka's shoulder comfortingly and said, "It's not your fault, Iruka. Don't be sorry, alright?"

"…Yeah, I'm sorry…" not wanting to meet Kakashi's gaze, Iruka just focused his sight on Kakashi's ankle which he was currently healing. He could not help but to feel bad about losing the pendant to Seiryuu and his ninja rank was definitely not a plausible excuse that he should use here.

"Iruka, look at me," tilting Iruka's chin up to meet his gaze, Kakashi smiled at him and continued his sentence softly. "I'm glad that you got out safely. You've done your part well so don't worry about it."

"Yeah, I'm…"

"Say another sorry and I'll make your genin read Icha Icha Paradise. Again," Kakashi smirked and made his threat obvious. The memory of Konohamaru and boobies came into Iruka's mind and he half scowled half smiled at the annoying silver haired jounin. "There, much better," ruffling Iruka's messy hair, Kakashi grinned in relief when he saw the familiar blush bloomed across the tanned cheeks in full force.

"Is there a thing going on between them?" whispering to Gai secretly, Ryuichiro gave Kakashi and Iruka a contemplative look.

"They're rumoured to be a couple back in Konoha," the hushed replied from Gai's came as he gave Ryuichiro a thumb up and a huge sparkling grin, signalling that he was done with his treatment on Ryuichiro's hands.

"Oh really?! The little boy is all grown up now… I'm so happy!" Ryuichiro rubbed his teary eyes with his bandaged hands as he whispered his reply to Gai. He was so happy that he felt the need to shed manly tears right now. Apparently Gai felt the same as well because tears were streaming down his cheeks as he repeated the words youthful love again and again. However, before they could do anything else, Kakashi's bored voice brought them out of their own little world.

"Don't bother to whisper when you're sitting in front of us. We can hear you if you haven't realised that yet."

"Ah, he was talking for Iruka-sensei! Such youthful LOVE!" ignoring Kakashi completely, Gai continued his bonding session which included manly tears and a lot of youth with Ryuichiro. Ryuichiro followed Gai's example in ignoring the poor Copy Ninja as he nodded furiously at Gai's statement.

"_I've been handling Maito Gai for all my life. I can handle another one, REALLY," _Kakashi could barely restrain himself from slamming his head against the desk at the sight in front of him. Sharingan Kakashi did not head desk was the only statement that kept him from doing that. Somehow, he had a premonition that things were going to get even harder from now on.

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	28. Chapter 28

Living in the Mist (Chapter 28)

Disclaimers: Not mine.

"Gai, this is Yamanaka Ryuichiro," scratching the back of his head in an exasperated manner, Kakashi pulled his legs up to avoid the wet floor. He could never understand how Gai could cry like that without getting dehydrated. And right now, it seemed that Ryuichiro had the same ability as well.

"Gai-san, please," Iruka found himself a seat beside Kakashi and used his teacher's voice without noticing. They had some serious matters to tend to right now and Gai's bawling was definitely not going to help.

"Oh Youthful Sen…"

"Gai-san!" slamming one of his palms on the tabletop, Iruka raised his voice and glared darkly at the Taijutsu specialist. He could felt the tiny waves of pain attacking the back of his head due to his steadily building headache. He was way too prickly to deal with any weird jounin's antics right now. Rubbing at his temples tiredly, Iruka continued with a calmer tone of voice, "Please. We have something important here to discuss." And this time, Iruka was lucky to have both Gai and Ryuichiro nodding at his statement without making any more unwanted noise.

"Ryuichiro-san, you might want to tell us more about yourself," taking control over the conversation, Kakashi switched to a more comfortable position on his chair - or as comfortable as he could get on the very small wooden chair – and requested using his usual bored tone of voice. He still had doubts for the old man's identity although all the evidence he had collected clearly pointed out that the man was indeed Yamanaka Ryuichiro.

"Well, I'll make this short. I was sent to Mist by Sandaime and Yondaime to find out more about the clan right after the Umino pair came to Konoha. I managed to find out a couple of stuffs before I was found out and they threw me into jail since then," Ryuichiro replied steadily without missing a beat. He knew that he did not gain the full trust from the other three ninjas yet so he would have to spend the time to explain himself. A tattoo and a dog tag were not going to help him much in his current situation. They were safe for now and all his words would be carefully analysed, unlike when they were in the underground dungeon.

"Why didn't they kill you?" much to Iruka's surprise, Kakashi did not ask for the clan's information, but instead asked for the reason why Ryuichiro was still alive. However, a little thinking told him that it was the right question to ask since spies were usually killed off immediately once they had been found out. Or they would undergo some torture and interrogation sessions before they were killed as well. So why was Ryuichiro still alive after all these years?

"I assume that you're aware of my clan's specialized technique?" coughing a little, Ryuichiro casted his gaze at Kakashi as he spoke. Iruka focused on Ryuichiro's pair of lidded eyes and instantly noticed the eye colour which happened to be the clearest of blue. It was the exact same colour as Ino's eyes.

"Mind Body Switch Technique?"

"Yes. They made me performed this skill on their Daimyo from time to time. They are the powerful ones in Mist. Even the council avoids having anything to do with them," Ryuichiro nodded at Gai and elaborated.

"So they keep you alive to control their Daimyo?" nodding slowly at Ryuichiro's explanation, Kakashi prodded further. He needed to confirm Ryuichiro's identity and extract as much information as he could before they started discussing about Seiryuu's tattoo in front of the old man.

"Yeah, you could say so. Or you could say that I have a very important thing of theirs with me and they don't know where I kept it," Ryuichiro replied and smiled smugly when he noticed the surprised expression on the other three occupants of the room.

"Y-You have a thing of theirs?" doing a very good job at imitating a gold fish, Iruka asked disbelievingly. Even Kakashi's bored expression changed to a sceptical look when he heard about Ryuichiro's claim. The clan's people were far from weak and from the chakra signals they felt before, those people were in fact very strong. So how on earth Yamanaka Ryuichiro managed to get something from them and kept it so well?

"Did they torture you for the information?" Gai however, did not look affected by Ryuichiro's claim at all since he was more concerned about how Ryuichiro managed to stay alive.

"They did torture me but they couldn't break me. My clan's specialty is messing up with people's mind so I guessed I have immunity towards the commonly used interrogation techniques. They gave up after a couple of years since I didn't break no matter what they did to me," Ryuichiro said and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as he felt his face warmed up. Iruka managed to notice the slight blush which crept up the wrinkled neck and he could not help but to ask, "What did they do to you aside from torturing you?"

"They sent Seiryuu to seduce me. You know who she is, right?"

Kakashi's and Iruka's face went from the previous placid expression to one of pure shocked when Ryuichiro mentioned about the beauty seducing him. Both of them were wide-eyes as they yelled "What?!" simultaneously and unintelligently.

"Yeah, the one with the green eyes. Very pretty," Ryuichiro blushed darker and Iruka was vaguely aware of the churning of his stomach's contents. An old man blushing was not a very nice sight to look at, in fact, it was just plain weird.

"But I thought she's in her twenties, or at most reaching thirty years old! Did they ask a kid to seduce you back then? Are you a paedophile or what?" Iruka blurted the whole sentence incredulously, his eyes impossibly wide. Seiryuu's age and Ryuichiro's statement simply did not make any sense for him. The only explanation he could reason out was the paedophile theory and he knew that did not make much sense either.

"That woman is somewhere in her fifties now, just like Kuroshi. I don't know what she did but she looked exactly the same over the years," laughing at Iruka's reaction, Ryuichiro explained, trying to clarify his statement. He was surprised by Seiryuu's ever young look at first but he did not dwell on it. Instead, he just ogled at the beauty whenever he could and teased her about her failed seduction mission in order to get under her skin and made her mild temper spiked. It was fun for a man who had nothing better to do in a jail. However, before Kakashi and Iruka could make any comment, Ryuichiro voiced out again. "Wait, do any of you saw her back before?"

"Seiryuu's back?" tilting his head to the side curiously, Kakashi asked as he wondered if the old man had noticed about the tattoo as well.

"Yes. There's a dragon tattoo with kanji on her back. Too bad I can't catch any of the words back then."

"But we did," Iruka patted Ryuichiro's shoulder and smiled warmly at the old man. He would have to thank Kakashi for the extraordinary observing skill since he would not be able to spot all those tiny words by himself. However, his smile faltered for a little when he thought about the event that they assumed to be related to the sequence of the kanji.

"Really? What did it…"

"What did you know about the clan? What did you get from them?" not allowing Ryuichiro to finish the sentence, Kakashi cut in half way and asked. He preferred to gain all the information first before he shared the information he had with a person whom he could not fully trust yet. That was why he planned to get everything out of Ryuichiro's mouth before he actually started to talk about his own findings.

Ryuichiro sighed in resignation as he realised that Kakashi was still wary towards him. However, he did not complain much about that as he started to talk once again. "I've told you before, the pendant is able to summon something once it's fully filled with chakra."

"Yeah, we already knew that. And?"

"It seems that the summoning had to be done on a certain time since they waited for so long, as in twenty something years, before they made their moves."

"We knew that as well. Anything else?" Kakashi's voice took an impatient edge when all the information that Ryuichiro provided was already figured out by them. The kanji sequence definitely told them a lot of things that Ryuichiro tried so hard to figure out.

"Not much else. I know some of their fighting abilities but we can talk about that later. I took a scroll of theirs. I don't know what is it used for but they seemed to treasure it a lot," Ryuichiro coughed a couple of times before he replied quietly. However, he did not tell them the location of the scroll, nor did he show the scroll to them.

"Ryuichiro-san, what are you waiting for?" Gai who was silent all the time finally spoke up as he looked at Ryuichiro expectantly along with the other two occupants of the room. They were obviously anticipating for the scroll that Ryuichiro mentioned but the old man did not seem to make any move to show them the said scroll.

"Uh, I sealed the scroll using one of the summoning techniques and I'll have to summon the scroll to show it to you guys," shifting nervously on his seat, Ryuichiro started to mumbled as he avoided the gaze of the other three ninjas in the room. Iruka and Gai looked at Ryuichiro with a neutral expression as they knew Kakashi would push the matter even if they did not. And as expected, they were right. "Show us the scroll."

"B-But…"

"Show us. Now," leaning forward, Kakashi put both of his hands on the table and hissed in a low tone of voice. He could not allow his chakra to spike so instead he used his voice to show that there was no room for discussion in this matter.

"I don't…"

"I said, show us, now," Kakashi glared at Ryuichiro and repeated the sentence slowly. However, the warning tone that his voice took was enough to make the message beneath the sentence very clear. _Show it or I'll make you._

Mumbling a _fine _under his breath, Ryuichiro started to make hand seals with ease, if not a little bit slower, despite his injured hands. The hand seals sequence was nothing new to the other three experienced ninjas in the room – it was for the summoning technique. Finishing up the last seal, Ryuichiro nicked his thumb briefly with his fingernail and drew a simple seal on the tabletop using his blood. Right after the seal started to glow, Ryuichiro put his palms on top of the seal, channelled some of his chakra into it and that resulted in a very quiet poof as white smoke surrounded the seal instantly. "There," removing his hands from the seal, Ryuichiro grumbled as he watched the smoke cleared away, not wanting to meet anyone's gaze. He was actually sounding extremely defeated compared to his usual cheerful self but Kakashi was too busy looking at the scroll – no, scrolls – to pay any attention to him. There were _not_ supposed to be two scrolls.

"This…" Iruka looked back and forth from the scrolls to Ryuichiro as he could not form any proper sentence. From Gai's furrowed brows and tightly sealed lips, it was obvious that he was as confused as Iruka as well. They could understand the appearance of the scroll with Iruka's family crest on it, they were anticipating for the scroll after all. But, why was there another scroll with Kakashi's family crest on it resting on top of the table?

Tentatively reaching out, Kakashi took the familiar scroll in his right hand as his left hand gripped the side of the table so tightly until a loud crack was heard when he removed a small section of the table. Trying hard not to let his chakra spiked wildly, Kakashi took a deep breath and asked calmly as he clutched the scroll close to his chest, "Where… did you get this…?"

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"Look at what we have here," Seiryuu drawled lazily as she twirled her hair and let those smooth strands ran between her slim fingers. She was quick to compose herself after she realised that they were busted. The last thing she needed now was panic and panic was what she would not do at any cost, no matter how strong her opponents were going to be.

"What's the meaning of all these?!" Suzaku roared as he whipped his head around, a look of total disbelief plastered on his face. Byakko was gripping the handle of his tachi with one hand while his other hand was placed on Suzaku's shoulder, preventing the red-head to do anything impetuous. Calmly, Byakko looked at the battle worn Seiryuu and demanded, "Explain."

"Do we need to?" Genbu allowed Seiryuu to do all the talking as he slowly planned how to get rid of the two very, very strong opponents in front of him. It would not be easy but he knew he had a better brain than that two. He had to think of a plan if he wanted to get out of this situation unscathed, which was fairly impossible in his opinion.

"Is that Akio? And Junko?!" spotting the lump of people laying unceremoniously on the floor behind Seiryuu, Suzaku narrowed his eyes and stated the obvious. He was angry and he did not hesitate to show it by allowing his chakra to burst and making the already stuffy air even more suffocating. "They're our people! We're supposed to protect them!" Suzaku shook his head repeatedly as he reached for his lance behind his back, his lean form poising in a pre-battle posture.

"No. You're supposed to protect them and we're supposed to use them. Kuroshi-sama gave us different responsibilities so we're just doing our jobs," Seiryuu understood that Genbu needed more time to come out with a plan so she was trying her best to drawl with her very angry opponents who were demanding for an explanation. She did not want to fight Byakko and Suzaku at all. She was sure that she would not be able to escape without getting harm if her opponents were these two. But from the angrily spiking chakra, she knew that most likely she would have to fight after all.

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

"Suzaku!" pulling the furious red-head back to his side, Byakko looked at Seiryuu and Genbu intensely before he spoke, "I want an explanation now. We don't want to fight in case you both have nothing to do with this."

"Byakko, what the hell are you thinking?! They're hurting our people!" Suzaku struggled futilely and cursed when he failed to remove himself from Byakko's death grip. He could not understand why Byakko was reasoning with these people when all the evidence presented in front of them clearly showed that Seiryuu and Genbu were far from innocent.

"Well, what I can say is believe what you see. We're not going to explain ourselves," still playing with her hair, Seiryuu smiled and replied softly, as if the whole argument had nothing to do with her.

"Fine then. We're not going to go easy on you two," slowly releasing his hold on Suzaku's bicep, Byakko unsheathed his tachi and replied in an even tone. He did not know the reason behind Seiryuu's and Genbu's actions, but he did know that he needed to protect his people. And that was what he was going to do.

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End file.
